India doctors remove 40 knives from man's stomach

• 4 hours ago
 
• From the sectionIndia

Image copyrightCORPORATE HOSPITAL

Image captionThe man, 42, swallowed the knives over a period of three months.

Doctors in the northern Indian city of Amritsar say they have surgically removed 40 knives from a man's stomach.

The man, 42, had swallowed the knives over a period of three months.

Dr Jatinder Malholtra told the BBC that the man met him last week after suffering severe pain in his stomach.

He said the man did not tell doctors that he had been swallowing knives. "We found out that he had been literally eating knives after conducting diagnostic tests," he said.

The man is recovering in the hospital and is out of danger.

The operation involved a team of five doctors and it took them five hours to finish the surgical process to remove the knives.

"It was a complex procedure and we had to really plan well to ensure a successful operation," he said.

Image copyrightCORPORATE HOSPITAL

Image captionCT scans showed 40 knives in the man's stomach

Doctors are now trying to find out why he was swallowing knives.

"We don't know the exact reason but it seems like he was suffering from some kind of physiological disorder. Even his family didn't know about his habit of swallowing knives," he said.

"He is getting counselling. He has promised that he will never touch a knife again, but his family will have to monitor him."