A bizarre medical case recently unfolded in Chicago, USA, when a man sought emergency treatment for a private matter, only for doctors to discover that a full-sized scented candle was lodged in his rectum—leaving medical staff in the emergency room visibly shocked.
The treating emergency physician, Kenji Oyasu, who often shares unusual cases on TikTok, revealed the incident while answering a question from followers about the strangest objects he has removed from patients. According to Oyasu, the patient admitted that during a “wild night” with his girlfriend, he had accidentally inserted a large jar candle into his body and was unable to remove it. Unlike smaller decorative candles, the size of this jar candle made extraction far more complicated.
Oyasu explained that large objects like this cannot be removed manually because vacuum pressure can pull the item back inside. The medical team ultimately inserted a tube and performed the removal under general anesthesia and muscle relaxation to safely extract the candle. During the procedure, staff joked about the candle’s scent, which turned out to be pumpkin spice, matching the Halloween season at the time.
According to the American Journal of Emergency Medicine (2023), approximately 4,000 Americans per year seek medical attention for rectal foreign objects, with an average patient age of 43 and around 78% being male. Most cases involve sex toys, but unusual household items are not uncommon, including an extreme case in France where a World War I artillery shell lodged in an elderly man’s rectum, prompting an emergency hospital evacuation.
