Smaller, ingested foreign bodies, such as bones eaten with food, can sometimes be found stuck in the rectum upon X-ray and are rarely of clinical relevance.

Depending on the location of the perforation, this may lead to a peritonitis due to the feces or an abscess in the retroperitoneal space.

Smaller objects that injure the intestinal wall, but do not perforate it, may be encapsulated by a foreign body granuloma.

[4] After a contrast medium applied by an enema proves the complete healing of the perforated area, the ileostomy is reversed.

[3] Medical literature describes some deaths due to rectal foreign bodies, but they are very rare and usually classified as autoerotic fatality.

A 75-year-old patient died due to a rectal perforation caused by a mentally ill person using a cane.

A 54-year-old man, who had been operated on twice in order to remove a foreign body (a cucumber and a parsnip), died due to a peritonitis after he inserted two apples into the rectum before the wound had healed.

[9] Reasons for foreign rectal bodies vary wildly, but in most cases they are of sexual or criminal motivation.

[4] In rare cases, the patient inserted the object into the rectum without a way to remove it intending to receive attention and pity from doctors and nurses.

[15] A mercury medical thermometer inserted into the anus in order to measure the temperature, but broke off while inside, is an example of a foreign rectal body due to an accident.

[3] The other way for a foreign body to travel through the digestive system (after oral intake and passage through the entire intestines) happens very often, but is only rarely medically relevant.

Some foreign bodies may still pass those narrows and may cause medically relevant issues, i.e. toothpicks and bones.

This kind of rectal foreign body happens chiefly in children, especially in Northern Africa and the Middle East, where those seeds form an elemental part of the diet.

Trusting and sensitive care for the ashamed and uncomfortable patients is paramount for a successful therapy[29] and may be life-saving.

Foreign bodies made from low-contrast material (e.g. plastics) may necessitate medical ultrasound or a CT scan.

[31] Information about the foreign body obtained in those ways are of high importance during therapy, as a perforation of the rectum or the anus is to be absolutely avoided.

[10] There have been several cases where instruments used in child birth have proven their worth for the removal of those foreign bodies, such as the forceps[33] and suction cups.

Previous extraction attempts using endoscopic tools failed due to the flat surface of the object.

[10] The large intestine can be manipulated inside the abdominal cavity, making it possible for it to wander in the direction of the anus and be grabbed there.

A surgical opening of the large intestines can be indication in very difficult cases, especially if the manipulation of the object may pose a serious health risk.

Difficult interventions may need general anaesthesia; surgical opening of the abdominal cavity or the colon require it.

[73] The Ig Nobel Prize was awarded in 1995 to David B. Busch and James R. Starling from Madison, Wisconsin, for their 1986 article Rectal foreign bodies: Case Reports and a Comprehensive Review of the World's Literature[25] (see List of Ig Nobel Prize winners).