Doctors Remove 227 Metal Objects From South African Man’s Stomach (photos)

A South African man shocked the doctors after being admitted with 227 metal objects, including a screwdriver, forks, coins, keys, nails, bolts, chains and several pieces of wire in his stomach.

Please, scroll down to see the photographs!

Trying to understand the reason of the man’s acute stomach pain and blood vomiting, the doctors carried out x-rays just to see dozens of foreign objects floating in his stomach. It turned out that the unnamed man is suffering from a rare eating disorder characterized by an appetite for non-nutritive substances such as paper, clay, metal, chalk,soil, glass, or sand.

Dr Maheshwar Naidoo, who performed a tw0-hour emergency operation said: “There was a concern that the sharp items might perforate the stomach wall, or damage internal organs. We removed everything one-by-one, and clean the stomach properly. The trickiest objects to remove were probably the two forks.

But there were many very sharp objects, such as screws, nails and pieces of wire that must have been very difficult for him to swallow. The items had a combined weight of about 2kg which resulted in the patient’s stomach actually dropping. The stomach was then cleaned and sutured.”

The 25-year-old is now recovering at home after being prescribed drugs for a psychiatric condition. Pica has been linked to mental disorders and they often have psychotic comorbidity. Stressors such as maternal deprivation, family issues, parental neglect, pregnancy, poverty, and a disorganized family structure are strongly linked to pica.