A 42-year-old woman had a cockroach living in her head, close to her brain. An expert team of surgeons from the Stanley medical hospital, extracted the cockroach from the base of her skull. Selvi, a resident of Injambakkam, visited a nearby local clinic with her son-in-law when she felt pain and discomfort in her nose. The local clinic advised her to visit a better hospital when they were unable to derive the cause of the pain.
Unable to find a reason, the hospital doctors told her that there was a growth inside her nose that caused the pain and crawling effect. However, after many tests and examinations, the doctors were unable to find any such growth and asked her to visit Stanley medical hospital. That entire night, until she went to Stanley, she was suffering and was feeling uncomfortable. According to reports, she said, “I could not explain the feeling but I was sure it was some insect.” She further added,”There was a tingling, crawling sensation. Whenever it moved, it gave me a burning sensation in my eyes. I spent the entire night in discomfort, sitting up and waiting for dawn to go to Stanley hospital after getting the reference of a doctor from my employer.”
According to reports, Dr M N Shankar, head, ENT department at the hospital told, “Examining her with nasal endoscope showed us a cockroach, a live one, settled near the skull base, between the eyes and close to the brain.” The doctor said that unlike the ear, it is very rare to find a foreign body, that too a live one, inside the nose. The complicated location all the more made it hard for the doctors to operate it out. “We tried to use vacuum suction to suck out the insect but that was not possible due to its large size,” Dr Shankar said.
The cockroach was removed using Nasal Endoscopy. What a nightmare!
