Doctors in Hapur, India, carried out a rare and challenging surgery after discovering dozens of household items inside a man’s stomach.
According to reports, the patient, a resident of Bulandshahr, had been admitted to a de-addiction centre in Ghaziabad about a month earlier. He was rushed to the hospital with severe abdominal pain, where scans revealed an astonishing sight, 29 steel spoons, 19 toothbrushes, and two pens lodged inside his stomach.
An emergency operation was led by Dr Shyam Kumar, who described the case as one of the most unusual in recent memory.
“The surgery was as complex as it was rare. An ultrasound scan revealed multiple metallic objects inside the man’s stomach, leaving doctors with no choice but to operate immediately. The team had to carefully remove the items one by one to prevent injury to vital organs,” he said.
Dr Kumar admitted the discovery was “shocking” given the sheer number of objects swallowed. Despite the risks, the operation was successful, and the patient has since been discharged in stable condition.
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The man later explained that he felt mistreated and deprived of food at the rehabilitation centre. Out of frustration and desperation, he began swallowing objects as an act of self-harm.
“He said he had felt mistreated and deprived of food at the de-addiction centre, which left him angry and helpless. In his agitation, he began swallowing objects to harm himself, a desperate act of self-injury,” the report read.
This is not the first such case in India. In 2022, doctors in Muzaffarnagar removed 63 spoons from a drug addict’s stomach. Similarly, in 2019, surgeons in Himachal Pradesh extracted an assortment of items, including spoons, screwdrivers, toothbrushes, a kitchen knife, and even a door latch from another patient suffering from a severe mental disorder.