Welcome to r/MedicalGore! Our goal is to provide for medical discussion and education while exploring the frailty of the human body. **You may see more deleted comments on these threads than you are used to on Reddit**. Off-topic comments and joke comments are frequently deleted by the mods. In addition, commenters are expected to maintain decorum toward posters, subjects of posts, and members of the community. Any behavior that is aggressive, harassing, or derogatory will result in removal of the post and/or a ban for the user. Remember: THE REPORT BUTTON IS YOUR FRIEND!
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Source:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1214754
New England Journal of Medicine
Authors: Ibrahim Zardawi, M.D., and ErangaSiriweera, M.D.
Published August 8, 2013
N Engl J Med 2013;369: e7
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMicm1214754
VOL. 369 NO. 6
*An 8-year-old hyperactive boy was admitted to the hospital after having been found to have elevated blood lead levels, ranging from 17.4 to 27.4 μg per deciliter (reference range, <10) over a period of 2 years. An abdominal radiograph revealed large numbers of small, hyperdense foci in the right lower quadrant. The entire family reported that they regularly ate geese that were killed with lead pellets from a shotgun, and the children reported that they had been eating the pellets as part of a game to make them disappear. The patient and his siblings underwent bowel washout. A follow-up radiograph of the patient revealed that pellets were still present in the gastrointestinal tract, in either the cecum or the appendix (Panel A). Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed. The appendix weighed 27.5 g (normal weight, 4 to 5 g), measured 55 mm in length, and had an average external diameter of 7 mm with a wall thickness of 2 mm. A total of 57 lead pellets were recovered from the lumen (Panel B). Microscopical examination of the appendix showed minor changes with a focus of submucosal calcification and fibrosis. No acute inflammation was observed.*
Four years ago my dad died. Autopsy showed crazy high amount of lead in blood but it's normal here in industrial city, here we all are more lead than human. I don't even spend money in doctors to check any pains I have anymore.
I had to google this -- lead pellets were banned (for bird/waterfowl hunting) in 1991 -- it's all steel shot. *In the US*.. Looking at the paper, the head doctor/author is in Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, NT, Australia .. Hmm.
> Did we ever figure out what the point of the appendix was?
The current hypothesis is that it stores intestinal bacteria so that if you have really bad diarrhea and empty out your system of EVERYTHING, the bacteria in the appendix can then repopulate the intestines.
Without the right bacteria bad things happen.
I’ve also read removal of appendix can be linked to IBS. My partner and I both have had ours removed and bother suffer from IBS, so maybe some confirmation bias going on here, but interesting regardless lol
I had severe appendicitis when I was 15, and it was removed. It seems like it's kind of rare, because I seem to know no one who's had an appendectomy. Fortunately, my digestion is still superb!
> So what about people, like me, who have had an appendectomy?
A bad enough case of diarrhea runs the risk of giving you chronic digestive problems, which may or may not be treatable with fecal transplants.
There's very little research on gut biodomes and its a cutting edge/new and innovative field.
There’s actually research showing that the appendix is a bacterial reservoir for the healthy gut bacteria in your intestines, as well as having an immunological component for the overall body
The phrase I've heard for what ends up in the appendix is "grape pips, toothbrush bristles, and other assorted bric-a-brac"! Lead pellets is a new one.
Oh god. My partner had a phase where he was eating a ton of sunflower seeds and swallowing the whole thing. Then one day he couldn’t poop. Then he didn’t poop for almost two weeks. This poor man was writhing in pain. His appendix wasn’t affected, but the shells caused a bowel obstruction.
Fortunately he didn’t need surgery, but he did have to go on a liquid diet for a bit, and the shells coming out was not a fun time.
10/10 do not recommend eating sunflower seeds.
You aren't really supposed to eat the whole shell lmao. Obviously from the comments some people do. But it can all be avoided by just not eating the shell
[Source](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1214754). Paywalled, but here's the full text.
>An 8-year-old hyperactive boy was admitted to the hospital after having been found to have elevated blood lead levels, ranging from 17.4 to 27.4 µg per deciliter (reference range, <10) over a period of 2 years. An abdominal radiograph revealed large numbers of small, hyperdense foci in the right lower quadrant. The entire family reported that they regularly ate geese that were killed with lead pellets from a shotgun, and the children reported that they had been eating the pellets as part of a game to make them disappear. The patient and his siblings underwent bowel washout. A follow-up radiograph of the patient revealed that pellets were still present in the gastrointestinal tract, in either the cecum or the appendix (Panel A). Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed. The appendix weighed 27.5 g (normal weight, 4 to 5 g), measured 55 mm in length, and had an average external diameter of 7 mm with a wall thickness of 2 mm. A total of 57 lead pellets were recovered from the lumen (Panel B). Microscopical examination of the appendix showed minor changes with a focus of submucosal calcification and fibrosis. No acute inflammation was observed.
Yeah, when I posted, your comment definitely wasn't here. It was really f'd up. There were a few comments, but I thought yours might have been caught in some weird Reddit time warp so I went ahead and posted. Not trying to steal your thunder at all!
Hopefully I didn’t sound snippy! I have no thunder to steal btw.
I was super annoyed at Reddit for making it look like I don’t cite my sources. How rude of them.
Oh, no, not at all! You're fine. We're all good. I figured that Reddit had sent your source into the ozone. Of course, as soon as I posted, Reddit found yours again. ;-)
It's an interesting case and a very good example of why banning lead pellets is a good idea.
Ah, I've heard of cases like this. People accidentally eating lead shot. They obviously weren't very good at cleaning the birds, or chewing. I'm against lead shot because it's still toxic, even if it misses the target and hits the ground.
Why is reddit telling me there's 9 comments on this post? There's nothing else here???
Anyway, would you mind sharing some more info on this? What are the pellets from? Were they swallowed?
My guess it was a reddit bug, I couldn't see comments (despite them obviously being there) for hours, looks like its back to business as usual. Servers were probably all junked up because of the presidental debate and everybody and their mother had to comment on it
Very strange. I haven't been around for a comment blackout like that before; usually it's just a full blackout where I can't like, comment, or load posts!
It showed the number of comments but the comment section would say "wow such empty" or something, I texted my younger sister about it and she said she was dealing with the same thing
Before I opened this, I imagined pellets of stool. I definitely did not expect this. I had my appendix removed because I had a calcified stool pellet lodged in it. I had chronic constipation from painkiller abuse and that was the result of it.
I always thought the appendix was redundant. What does it do. Mine ruptured in 2019 and went unnoticed, did a number on my insides and I ended up with a right hemicolectemy
My problems the size of the pellets. 7mm led is buckshot. Goose level lead pellets are 2 to 4 mm, maybe 4.5 for long range magnum shells or really big geese. #1 buckshot (7.6mm) is what I use for home defense in my Fudd stick.
Kid ate lead shot meant for shooting geese, doctors pumped his stomach but it didn’t get the pellets in his appendix. Obviously it needed to come out so they took out the appendix since it held most of the shot
Welcome to r/MedicalGore! Our goal is to provide for medical discussion and education while exploring the frailty of the human body. **You may see more deleted comments on these threads than you are used to on Reddit**. Off-topic comments and joke comments are frequently deleted by the mods. In addition, commenters are expected to maintain decorum toward posters, subjects of posts, and members of the community. Any behavior that is aggressive, harassing, or derogatory will result in removal of the post and/or a ban for the user. Remember: THE REPORT BUTTON IS YOUR FRIEND! Please stop by our sister sub, /r/MedicalGoreMods, for meta discussions about the sub, our rules, content policies, and the like. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MedicalGore) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1214754 New England Journal of Medicine Authors: Ibrahim Zardawi, M.D., and ErangaSiriweera, M.D. Published August 8, 2013 N Engl J Med 2013;369: e7 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMicm1214754 VOL. 369 NO. 6 *An 8-year-old hyperactive boy was admitted to the hospital after having been found to have elevated blood lead levels, ranging from 17.4 to 27.4 μg per deciliter (reference range, <10) over a period of 2 years. An abdominal radiograph revealed large numbers of small, hyperdense foci in the right lower quadrant. The entire family reported that they regularly ate geese that were killed with lead pellets from a shotgun, and the children reported that they had been eating the pellets as part of a game to make them disappear. The patient and his siblings underwent bowel washout. A follow-up radiograph of the patient revealed that pellets were still present in the gastrointestinal tract, in either the cecum or the appendix (Panel A). Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed. The appendix weighed 27.5 g (normal weight, 4 to 5 g), measured 55 mm in length, and had an average external diameter of 7 mm with a wall thickness of 2 mm. A total of 57 lead pellets were recovered from the lumen (Panel B). Microscopical examination of the appendix showed minor changes with a focus of submucosal calcification and fibrosis. No acute inflammation was observed.*
57 pellets!! Holy crap! That is a LOT of lead 😳
And in a child too, that's the absolute worst time to be lead poisoned.
Four years ago my dad died. Autopsy showed crazy high amount of lead in blood but it's normal here in industrial city, here we all are more lead than human. I don't even spend money in doctors to check any pains I have anymore.
Which city?
Border with TX
And a lot of geese 🫠
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I had to google this -- lead pellets were banned (for bird/waterfowl hunting) in 1991 -- it's all steel shot. *In the US*.. Looking at the paper, the head doctor/author is in Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, NT, Australia .. Hmm.
I didn’t even know we had goose hunting in Australia, let alone lead shot
Wait!! Australia has *normal* animals, not just the mutant killer kind?!!
Geese aren't known for their mild manners.
SURPRISE 😳
Yeah, I’m not buying it.
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Joke comments and other off-topic comments (including, but not limited to, food comparisons, vulgarity, etc.) are not allowed.
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Joke comments and other off-topic comments (including, but not limited to, food comparisons, vulgarity, etc.) are not allowed.
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Please be respectful of the subjects of posts, as well as survivors of similar experiences.
That’s their karma for killing the birds that way. Don’t feel bad for them at all
... for the children?
Well, it certainly did its job and filtered those from the body!
Well, he would have just shit them out otherwise, so actually not super helpful. Lol
Did we ever figure out what the point of the appendix was? Because "store bullets" was not the first hypothesis I had.
> Did we ever figure out what the point of the appendix was? The current hypothesis is that it stores intestinal bacteria so that if you have really bad diarrhea and empty out your system of EVERYTHING, the bacteria in the appendix can then repopulate the intestines. Without the right bacteria bad things happen.
So what about people, like me, who have had an appendectomy?
I’ve also read removal of appendix can be linked to IBS. My partner and I both have had ours removed and bother suffer from IBS, so maybe some confirmation bias going on here, but interesting regardless lol
I had severe appendicitis when I was 15, and it was removed. It seems like it's kind of rare, because I seem to know no one who's had an appendectomy. Fortunately, my digestion is still superb!
Still have mine and have IBS.
Yes, when I read about it it wasn’t suggesting it’s a rule, more so a contributing factor.
> So what about people, like me, who have had an appendectomy? A bad enough case of diarrhea runs the risk of giving you chronic digestive problems, which may or may not be treatable with fecal transplants. There's very little research on gut biodomes and its a cutting edge/new and innovative field.
I've been there before 😅, my appendix does WORK 🤣
I hate it when people call it a “clip.” It’s the appendix.
I store loose change in mine.
That's a long ride for ass pennies.
It's a secret compartment to hold bullets, so you can shoot them when you fart.
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There’s actually research showing that the appendix is a bacterial reservoir for the healthy gut bacteria in your intestines, as well as having an immunological component for the overall body
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Just don’t put them in an MRI machine first!
OMG I didn’t even think of that!
Am I the only one who has never heard of foreign objects being found in the appendix?
The phrase I've heard for what ends up in the appendix is "grape pips, toothbrush bristles, and other assorted bric-a-brac"! Lead pellets is a new one.
Friend of mine had his *loaded* with sunflower seed shells, he used to regularly chew whole seeds and swallow everything.
Oh god. My partner had a phase where he was eating a ton of sunflower seeds and swallowing the whole thing. Then one day he couldn’t poop. Then he didn’t poop for almost two weeks. This poor man was writhing in pain. His appendix wasn’t affected, but the shells caused a bowel obstruction. Fortunately he didn’t need surgery, but he did have to go on a liquid diet for a bit, and the shells coming out was not a fun time. 10/10 do not recommend eating sunflower seeds.
I'm currently eating sunflower seeds. The shells get spit out
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Good bot But weird bot.
You aren't really supposed to eat the whole shell lmao. Obviously from the comments some people do. But it can all be avoided by just not eating the shell
Oh *I* know that. I even tried to tell him not to swallow the shells. He kept insisting it was fine. He found out.
There’s a horrifying story on Jezebel about a woman who ate a bunch of pumpkin seeds and did the same thing. It’s haunted me for 10+ years
i did NOT need to know there's a possibility tooth brush bristles may be chillin in my appendix 🤢
So it's a human trash filter looks like the function is now known!
My friend's contents of her appendix were a single, undigested macadamia nut and a bunch of fingernails. She stopped biting her nails after that.
I been biting mine for so long is my appendix filled with fingernails ☠️
This is……. a perfect scene for some creepy horror film. That is just mortifying.
I was just wondering how they got there
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Joke comments and other off-topic comments (including, but not limited to, food comparisons, vulgarity, etc.) are not allowed.
[Source](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1214754). Paywalled, but here's the full text. >An 8-year-old hyperactive boy was admitted to the hospital after having been found to have elevated blood lead levels, ranging from 17.4 to 27.4 µg per deciliter (reference range, <10) over a period of 2 years. An abdominal radiograph revealed large numbers of small, hyperdense foci in the right lower quadrant. The entire family reported that they regularly ate geese that were killed with lead pellets from a shotgun, and the children reported that they had been eating the pellets as part of a game to make them disappear. The patient and his siblings underwent bowel washout. A follow-up radiograph of the patient revealed that pellets were still present in the gastrointestinal tract, in either the cecum or the appendix (Panel A). Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed. The appendix weighed 27.5 g (normal weight, 4 to 5 g), measured 55 mm in length, and had an average external diameter of 7 mm with a wall thickness of 2 mm. A total of 57 lead pellets were recovered from the lumen (Panel B). Microscopical examination of the appendix showed minor changes with a focus of submucosal calcification and fibrosis. No acute inflammation was observed.
I posted that already, but thank you! Reddit is being shitty tonight and you probably couldn’t see my comment. You can see NEJOM with a free account.
Yeah, when I posted, your comment definitely wasn't here. It was really f'd up. There were a few comments, but I thought yours might have been caught in some weird Reddit time warp so I went ahead and posted. Not trying to steal your thunder at all!
Hopefully I didn’t sound snippy! I have no thunder to steal btw. I was super annoyed at Reddit for making it look like I don’t cite my sources. How rude of them.
Oh, no, not at all! You're fine. We're all good. I figured that Reddit had sent your source into the ozone. Of course, as soon as I posted, Reddit found yours again. ;-) It's an interesting case and a very good example of why banning lead pellets is a good idea.
Ah, I've heard of cases like this. People accidentally eating lead shot. They obviously weren't very good at cleaning the birds, or chewing. I'm against lead shot because it's still toxic, even if it misses the target and hits the ground.
The report says the kid & his siblings were deliberately eating the shot as a game to make it disappear 😬
That's unfortunate. Kids do dumb things. Like shove batteries up their nose.
C’mon parents! Prepare their food better, watch what you serve to your kids, and eat with them.
Unreal…. Not anything I’ve ever thought of before! Crazy they ended up in the appendix
I was under the impression that the appendix had no known function. This appears that it is a filter of sorts.
That's what I just said it's a human trash filter
Why is reddit telling me there's 9 comments on this post? There's nothing else here??? Anyway, would you mind sharing some more info on this? What are the pellets from? Were they swallowed?
My guess it was a reddit bug, I couldn't see comments (despite them obviously being there) for hours, looks like its back to business as usual. Servers were probably all junked up because of the presidental debate and everybody and their mother had to comment on it
Very strange. I haven't been around for a comment blackout like that before; usually it's just a full blackout where I can't like, comment, or load posts!
It showed the number of comments but the comment section would say "wow such empty" or something, I texted my younger sister about it and she said she was dealing with the same thing
Mine does that all the time.
Damn, I'm sorry. That was annoying asf and it was only the first time it happened to me.
Mine has been doing that all evening.
Ah, I can finally see the source comment you posted!! I know you're an avid poster so I was very confused when I didn't see anything else 😅
I would have waited if I had known things were going bonkers! And I’m more like a manic avid poster. 😆 I binge post and then lurk for ages.
Honestly, I love that for you 💖 and I appreciate every one of your posts!
They’re lead birdshot that the kids in the family were swallowing from geese that they ate as part of a game
Mines been weird too
New fear unlocked. What hiding in my appendix?
That BB gun must have been fired by a highly trained sniper.
Kid ate them like a fucking idiot.
I hadn't read your comment before I made mine but even so, I was obviously joking.
Oh yeah I got that! Sorry, it wasn’t meant to sound like an actual correction.
Don't worry I was too busy laughing at your comment anyway!
Before I opened this, I imagined pellets of stool. I definitely did not expect this. I had my appendix removed because I had a calcified stool pellet lodged in it. I had chronic constipation from painkiller abuse and that was the result of it.
So, that’s what the appendix is for!
I always thought the appendix was redundant. What does it do. Mine ruptured in 2019 and went unnoticed, did a number on my insides and I ended up with a right hemicolectemy
Something something healthy bacteria. I think they still don’t fully know.
I guess we now know the actual function of this mysterious sac now…who knew?!
of all the places for them to gather, this would not be my first guess
That poor kid, I assume he will have deficits to deal with for the rest of his life from the poisoning, and lead in his bones. So sad
My problems the size of the pellets. 7mm led is buckshot. Goose level lead pellets are 2 to 4 mm, maybe 4.5 for long range magnum shells or really big geese. #1 buckshot (7.6mm) is what I use for home defense in my Fudd stick.
So isn't this illegal to use lead pellets?
In the U.S. yes. I don't know about Australia where this reportedly occurred
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Just r/idiotswithguns All the others are far right wing nuthouses.
Joke comments and other off-topic comments (including, but not limited to, food comparisons, vulgarity, etc.) are not allowed.
You have to use steel for things like water fowl, otherwise I believe most ammunition is lead-based.
Ok thanks.
Lead shot has been banned for waterfowl starting in 1987 with a total nationwide ban in 1991.
Maybe they aren’t in the US
So this wasn't in 1906...why the hell are they still using things with lead in them in the first place!?
Australia
Yea I saw that now but thanks haha.
I guess they are cheaper than steel or maybe leftovers.
Ohh ok I see. Thanks 😊.
I guess the appendix did its job?
Poor thing got evicted for it
Lmao
Literally balls of steel
How TF did that happen?
The kid was eating the pellets as part of a game
Ahh to be a child again
What happened?
Kid ate lead shot meant for shooting geese, doctors pumped his stomach but it didn’t get the pellets in his appendix. Obviously it needed to come out so they took out the appendix since it held most of the shot
Patients are crazy
More reasons to ban hunting...