Immigration officers did a rectal exam. They found a seton which treated an anal fistula. Unfortunately, they pulled it out. Bad move:
After one baffled immigration officer pulled “very hard” on the seton, the patient was given the choice by the baffled immigration officers of either getting on the next plane home, or submitting himself to a procedure to have it removed.Happily, as The Lancet’s correspondent notes, the curious immigration officer yanking the seton did not damage “the anal sphincter muscles encircled by it”.
The seton was duly removed by an airport doctor, who claimed to have no idea what it was. The man now requires treatment under general anaesthetic to have a replacement inserted.
The letter writer concludes by advising seton patients to carry a letter from their doctor when travelling “to the USA or any other country where they are likely to be searched in this manner”.
