An elderly patient suffering cancer of the rectum (the last part of the digestive tract, just before the anal canal and anus opening) got admitted to the Surgery Department of AIIMS, New Delhi.
Cancer of the rectum is uncommon in India, so there was a great academic interest among the doctors regarding this patient. Unfortunately, as the cancer is inside the rectum, the only way to examine the lesion is by digital per-rectal examination, i.e. inserting the gloved finger inside the anus to reach the tumor and blindly feel it. Since the tumor is usually ulcerated, the procedure can be very painful.
Due to an academically important case, the patient was directly admitted to the Surgery ward without getting the investigation done on the OPD basis, which would have taken him 3-4 days. The patient was advised to get all the investigations done in the ward along with CT scan of the abdomen and pelvic region for which he got an appointment for 5 days later.
While waiting in the ward for the CT Scan, all the doctors of the unit examined the patient with a per-rectal examination.
When the MS exam going batch came to know of this patient, they came in a group and examined the patient including per-rectal examination and presented the case to the faculty member.
The MBBS batch posting was also going on and they also had a class of the patients with the per-rectal examination by some of the students.
Fed up with the frequent painful per-rectal examination and without any specific treatment by the doctors, the patient the approached the consultant on the morning round and said, “If the only treatment for my condition is putting a finger in my anus multiple times, then please discharge me as I will go home and get this treatment there from my three sons.
(Based on allegedly true incident)
— ND
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DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purpose. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use of the information herein is at you one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Practice should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost.
DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purpose. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use of the information herein is at you one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Education should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost and according to MCI and other Board’s norm.
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