A TEENAGER has had a 20 centimetre “tail” removed from his back.

The tail had started to grow on the back of the teenager just after his 14th birthday. But the condition was ignored by his parents.

But over the past four years, as the boy turned 18, the tail had grown to 20cm long.

The family, who were apprehensive about drawing a public attention to the condition of their son, finally decided to get the tail removed. But they refused to have their identity disclosed.

Doctors say that the boy might have developed the tail in the womb as a result of a neural tube deformity but it appeared outside only after he grew up.

His mother, unnamed in reports, said: “I had been taking him to doctors for routine check-ups but no one ever notified me about anything. My son was absolutely normal.

“It became a problem when the tail grew outside the body. He would just lift the tail every time he needed to change his clothes. I could see that it was very annoying and painful for him so I finally took him to a hospital.”

A team of neurosurgeons at the government Super Specialty Hospital successfully removed the human tail, apparently the longest recorded so far.

The head of the neurosurgery department and the team, Pramod Giri said: “Though the family knew about this unusual growth, they did not see a doctor due to the social stigma and superstition attached to it.

“Generally, the defect is detected very early as it is present from birth and since it grows with age it cannot remain undetected. But the parents as well as the child hid the fact all these years. The defect can be surgically corrected within few months of birth.”

Dr Giri said: “When the size of the tail grew and a bone developed inside it, the tail began to press on the boy’s back. It was cosmetically and psychologically disturbing for him. Hence the parents approached us.”

The surgery is not very demanding but it is done by a neurosurgeon as the growth of tail involves a part of the spinal cord. It arises from a compression at the tail end of the back and is medically referred as the neuro-development abnormality.

This case is very rare and calls for a presentation in a medical journal as the tail is apparently the longest recorded so far.

Dr Giri said: “The boy would be under observation for a few days and his medication will go on for a couple of weeks so that it doesn’t hurt anymore.”