Urethral stricture secondary to self-instrumentation due to delusional parasitosis: a case report

Delusional parasitosis is a rare psychiatric disorder which often presents with dermatological problems. Delusional parasitosis, which involves urethral self-instrumentation and foreign body insertion, is exceptionally rare. This is the first case report to date that provides a detailed presentation of the urological manifestation of delusional parasitosis with complications associated with repeated self-instrumentation and foreign body insertion, resulting in stricture formation and requiring perineal urethrostomy.

A 45-year-old Irish man was electively admitted for perineal urethrostomy with chronic symptoms of dysuria, haematuria, urethral discharge, and intermittent urinary retention. He reported a 4-year history of intermittent pain, pin-prick biting sensations, and burrowing sensations, and held the belief that his urethra was infested with ticks. He also reported a 2-year history of daily self-instrumentation, mainly injecting an antiseptic using a syringe in an attempt to eliminate the ticks. He was found to have urethral strictures secondary to repeated self-instrumentation. A foreign body was found in his urethra and was removed via cystoscopy. On psychiatric assessment, he displayed a fixed delusion of tick infestation and threatened to surgically remove the tick himself if no intervention was performed. The surgery was postponed due his mental state and he was started on risperidone; he was later transferred to an acute in-patient psychiatric unit. Following a 3-week admission, he reported improvement in his thoughts and distress.

Delusional parasitosis is a rare psychiatric disorder. Self-inflicted urethral foreign bodies in males are rare and have high comorbidity with psychiatric disorders; hence, these patients have a low threshold for referral for psychiatric assessment. The mainstay treatment for delusional parasitosis is second-generation antipsychotic drugs.