Surgery to Remove Undigested Noodles from Intestine, Video: Fact Check

Story:

Undigested Noodles in Intestine

Other Versions

1. Operation of intestine due to unchewed noodles

2. Surgery to clean Noodles

Fact Check:

Warning: Graphic videos in this article. Viewer discretion advised.

Few graphic, disturbing videos seen often online purport to show a medical surgery of human intestine to remove lumps of undigested noodles from inside, warning consumers of the same. The videos are genuine, but what are shown removing from the intestine are not undigested, unchewed noodles or spaghetti, they are Intestinal worms/parasites.

In the second, similar video, you can see doctors are in fact performing one such medical operational procedure. They cut open the infected human intestine before removing the Intestinal worms/parasites (not noodles as they appear). The first video was also shared by a YouTube user Siddharth Sharma in August 2016 with the actual description saying ‘Deadliest intestinal parasites, removed by operation.’

Intestinal Parasites

According to University of Maryland Medical Center website umm.edu, intestinal parasites are mainly of two types, Helminths and Protozoa. Helminths like Tapeworms, Pinworms, and Roundworms are worms with many cells. Notably, in their adult form, the helminths cannot multiply in the human body. On the other hand, Protozoa have only one cell, can multiply inside the human body, and can allow the development of serious infections. These intestinal parasites are usually transmitted to humans when they come in contact with infected faeces, like through contaminated soil, food or water.