Amazed medics have removed a metal spoon handle from a teenage boy’s stomach after he apparently swallowed it during a meal.
The jagged edge of the 10-centimetre (four-inch) long handle had lodged in the 16-year-old’s stomach wall causing him to wake up in agony in the early hours of 12th May.
The teen – identified only as Xiao Gang in local media – was rushed to Guangxi Brain Hospital, Liuzhou, southern China, with severe abdominal pain.
X-ray images released by the hospital’s Department of Gastroenterology show the long spoon handle trapped sideways in the patient’s stomach.
Gastric surgery expert Lu Fushan immediately led a delicate operation to retrieve the handle to stop its sharp edges from causing more damage.
During the endoscopy, the doctor observed that Xiao’s stomach was extensively red, inflamed, and bleeding.
In the descending part of the duodenum, the steel spoon handle was visible, with its broken end embedded in the mucosa causing bleeding.
Due to the relatively large size of the spoon handle, Dr Fushan decided to alternately use foreign body forceps and a disposable snare device to grip the broken end of the spoon handle and slowly pull it out.
After the procedure, reported local media, Xiao did not experience any further bleeding or complications.
He has since fully recovered and has been discharged from hospital.
It is unclear how Xiao managed to break off the handle to swallow it.
