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Medical Author:

Martin J Carey, MD, MPH, BCh

Medical Editor:

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.

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The majority of people with an object in their rectum may have no signs or symptoms. This can make the diagnosis very difficult, especially in children and in psychiatric patients.

In some cases, especially if there has been a delay in seeking medical attention, a complication may have occurred, which gives rise to symptoms. In this case, these are the symptoms most likely to be experienced by the patient:

• Abdominal pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• Fever
• Rectal bleeding

Examination may be equally unrevealing. But if the patient has a complication such as peritonitis (inflammation of the abdominal wall) then he or she will have a very tender abdomen.