Hard to stomach: Doctors remove several spoons from man's stomach
What's the story
This weird incident in Uttar Pradesh might make your skin crawl in horror.
Doctors operated upon a man in Muzaffarnagar district and removed 62 steel spoons from his stomach! Did someone take the concept of spoon-feeding too literally?
Vijay Kumar was rushed to a private hospital recently after he complained of severe stomach ache. He underwent a two-hour-long surgery and is now recovering.
Twitter Post
ANI shared this news on Twitter recently
UP | 62 spoons have been taken out from the stomach of 32-year-old patient, Vijay in Muzaffarnagar. We asked him if he ate those spoons he agreed. Operation lasted for around 2 hours, he is currently in ICU. Patient has been eating spoons for 1 year: Dr Rakesh Khurrana (27.09) pic.twitter.com/tmqnfWJ2lY
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 28, 2022
Recovery
'Patient has been eating spoons for one year'
The 32-year-old is in the ICU for post-surgery recovery and is still critical.
"We asked him if he ate those spoons and he agreed. The operation lasted for around two hours, he is currently in ICU. The patient has been eating spoons for one year," Dr. Rakesh Khurrana told ANI.
"We have never done this kind of extraction before," Dr. Khurrana told IANS.
X-rays
Heads of the spoons were broken before consumption
At the time of admission, Kumar complained of weakness and was unable to eat or drink.
Doctors took X-rays and CT scans to determine the cause of the pain and found something metallic in his stomach.
Dr. Khurrana said that the man broke the heads off the spoons before consumption. But doctors could not say with certainty when Kumar had consumed these spoon handles.
No complaints lodged
Family claims Kumar was force fed the spoons
"He was brought to me 15 days back and in the X-ray, we found something metallic in his stomach and large intestines," said Dr. Khurrana.
Being a drug addict he was admitted to a de-addiction center a year ago, where, his nephew Ajay Chaudhary claims, he was forced to 'eat' the spoons.
However, no complaints have been lodged yet.
Eating disorder
The incident could signal a condition called pica
The patient might have been suffering from a condition called pica. This eating disorder makes an individual crave and eat non-food items like metal, paper, or dirt.
Although the exact cause of pica is unknown, it is often seen among people suffering from malnutrition or hunger, or among those with mental health disorders like schizophrenia, intellectual disabilities, or autism.