28 spoons and 19 toothbrushes found in drug addict’s stomach

A 40-year-old man from Hapur was rushed to the hospital after he complained of severe stomach pain and his condition left doctors stunned. 

Doctors at Devnandani Hospital in Uttar Pradesh,  India,  said a five-hour-long operation was led by Dr Shyam Kumar to remove a total of 50 foreign objects that were found in the man’s stomach: including 29 steel spoons, 19 toothbrushes and two pens. 

Hospital staff said the case came to light on September 17, when the man’s family brought him in with complaints of pain, vomiting and weakness.  

“When we performed the ultrasound, X-ray and CT scan, we were stunned to see metallic and plastic objects inside his stomach. I have never seen so many foreign bodies in one patient,” Dr Kumar told the media. 
 

Officials said the Hapur-based man had been struggling with substance abuse and had been admitted to a de-addiction centre in Ghaziabad about a month ago. 

But being left at a de-addiction centre made him furious, and, in anger, he had been swallowing these everyday objects since then, officials said. 

Speaking to reporters, the man admitted that he would take spoons from the de-addiction centre. 

“I would pick them up and go to the washroom to swallow them,” he said. 

During surgery, doctors discovered that the heads of the spoons and toothbrushes had been broken before being swallowed. 

“There were about 28 spoon parts, along with 21 head-less brush parts and two pens,” Dr Kumar said. 

Medical experts attributed his behaviour to a possible psychiatric condition such as pica disorder — a compulsive eating disorder in which individuals consume non-food items. 

The man’s condition is now stable. He was discharged on September 23 and sent back home.

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