Docs remove live cockroach from woman's skull after she complained about 'crawling sensation'

In one of the most bizarre surgeries ever, doctors in India removed a live cockroach from a woman's nasal cavity reaching the brain.

42-year-old Selvi had complained of an "crawling sensation" for several hours, before being operated upon, The New Indian Express reported.

"It was a full grown cockroach... It was alive. And it didn't seem to want to come out," Dr M.N. Shankar, head of the ENT department at Stanley Medical College and Hospital in southern Indian city of Chennai said.

Doctors were relieved that the cockroach was taken out alive because had it died it would have infected the woman's brain.

“I could not explain the feeling but I was sure it was some insect Whenever it moved, it gave me a burning sensation in my eyes," the woman said.

She made visits to multiple hospitals because her discomfort was undetected. Until, doctors at Stanley used an endoscope to find the reason. The insect was sitting in the skull base, between the eyes and close to the brain, Dr Shankar said.

After a 45-minute procedure, using suction and forceps, doctors were able to extract the cockroach, still alive.

A video of the extraction is doing the rounds on social media. Warning: it's graphic.

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The doctors reportedly said that this was a first-of-its-kind experience for them. In the past, the hospital’s ENT department has removed a leach, houseflies, and maggots from patients’ nasal cavities.

However, there seems to have been a global precedent when a small cockroach crawled into the ear of a George Washington University student. There too the roach was flushed out live.