Doctors at a general hospital in south-central Vietnam have discovered a six-centimeter-long leech inhabiting a patient’s nose.

Doctors at Cam Ranh General Hospital in Khanh Hoa Province successfully performed a minor surgery to remove a six-centimeter leech from the nose of Pi Nang L., Nguyen Hong Quang, director of the infirmary, said on Friday morning.

On Thursday, surgeons opted to conduct an endoscopy to study the patient’s nose after listening to the victim and discovering a long creature tucked in his nasal cavity.

L., 47, living in Ninh Thuan, a neighboring province of Khanh Hoa, began showing cold-like symptoms that included a runny and stuffy nose on February 11. 

After experiencing a nosebleed, L. realized the need for diagnosis and medical treatment and thus departed to Cam Ranh General Hospital on Thursday.

During an earlier health check in his home district for the same problem, L. was diagnosed with sinusitis, a sinus condition that causes mucus, nasal stuffiness, sneezing, and itching.

It was not until general practitioners at Cam Ranh General Hospital carried out the endoscopy that L. learned there was a leech living in his nose.

The six-centimeter-long and one-centimeter-wide leech remains alive, doctors said.

The creature is believed to have found its way into L.’s nose while he washing and drinking by a stream during farming.

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