# Vacuum Commode Incident

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vacuum-commode-incident/24773>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [July 6, 2000, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vacuum-commode-incident/24773 "2000-07-06T18:13:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2000, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vacuum-commode-incident/24773/1 "2000-07-06T18:13:05Z")

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Here is the link:  
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_260.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_260.html)

But, umm, what happens next at the hospital??? Do they sit her on a positive pressure commode and blow the intestines back in? Or maybe shove a vacuum hose down her throat and suck them back in? How do the doctors correct this problem?

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**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2000, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vacuum-commode-incident/24773/2 "2000-07-07T09:26:35Z")

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Cecil briefly mentions the case of a toddler that sat on a suction-type pool drain. In this case, the child’s rectal mucosa was prolapsed [This](http://www.urbanlegends.com/medical/pool_drains.html) site says that “the prolapse was manually reduced” which sounds to me like the doctors pushed everything back in by hand.

This is in addition to repairing a laceration and performing a sigmoid colostomy.

However a prolapse of rectal mucosa sounds easier to fix than “several feet of small intestine” hanging out. The full letter from _JAMA_ that Cecil refers to can be found [here](http://www.urbanlegends.com/medical/evisceration/ship_jama.html). The author says “an ambulance crew responded with a few moments and transported the woman to a local hospital. I left Canada within the hour and am unaware of the final outcome of the incident.” A [UPI](http://www.urbanlegends.com/medical/evisceration/ship_upi.html) report says that the victim “was admitted to the hospital, where she was treated for 10 days and released.”

I guess it’s up to more medically inclined types to speculate exactly how it was done.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2000, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vacuum-commode-incident/24773/3 "2000-07-07T14:29:05Z")

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The column ( **including** Slug Signorino’s illustration) can also be found on pages 260-262 of Cecil Adams’ book “[_Triumph of the Straight Dope_](http://www.straightdope.com/otheroutlets/books.html)”.

Good job in tracking down the references Alphagene. You’re my hero.