STUNNED doctors have removed 33 items from a man’s belly – including a screwdriver and razor blades.
Yogesh Thakur, 30, was admitted to hospital in central India on Sunday after complaining of severe abdominal pain.
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Medics decided to carry out an X-ray and were shocked to discover dozens of sharp objects, such as a knife, inside his stomach.
Surgery was carried out two days later and Mr Thakur, a part-time farmer, is expected to be discharged in the next few days.
His mother, Kusma Thakur, said: “He grabs anything and eats it. But we were surprised when we came to know that he could eat such dangerous things too.”
He grabs anything and eats it – we were surprised that he could eat such dangerous things too
Kusma Thakur
Dr MPN Khare, who performed the operation, said that Yogesh suffered from altered mental status (AMS), a general term used to describe various disorders of mental functioning that can range from slight confusion to coma.
He said: “It was a rather difficult surgery as he suffered from hypertension.
“We were shocked and surprised to find over thirty sharp objects inside his abdomen.”
The man is believed to suffer from a rare disorder known as acuphagia, where people eat sharp metal objects and other indigestible items.
What is acuphagia?
Acuphagia is the term used to describe eating sharp objects.
It’s a sub-type of pica syndrome – an eating behaviour in which individuals eat non-nutritive items or substances, according to Psychology Today.
Sufferers can have the urge to consume all matter of objects, from coins, to clothes, to cigarette butts.
Although very few cases of acuphagia have been reported in the medical literature, particularly in adults, most of these suggest that those displaying the symptoms have psychological and/or psychiatric disorders that may be accompanied by some form of learning disability.
While the NHS doesn’t outline specific treatment for pica, they do recommend different options from those battling eating disorders.
Cognitive behavioural therapy can be useful for altering the way a patient thinks about a situation, which can help change the way they act.
Interpersonal psychotherapy, which involves talking about the disorder to an expert, can also be helpful.
Dietary counselling and cognitive analytic therapy are among the other options available.
If you have pica syndrome, it’s advisable to visit your local GP to discuss treatment options.
It’s a form of pica – a psychological disorder characterised by an appetite for substances that are largely non-nutritive, such as ice, hair, paper, drywall or paint, sharp objects, metal, stones, soil, glass, faeces and chalk.
Usually, it occurs alongside mental health conditions that impair function, such as autism or schizophrenia.
The prevalence of pica is not known but it is believed to be more common in developing countries, according to the National Eating Disorders Associations.
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It’s not the first time such a strange instance has occurred in India.
A man in the north-west Indian state of Rajasthan, who swallowed 116 nails, underwent a successful operation in May this year.
In another incident, surgeons removed around three pounds of metals including nuts, bolts and jewellery from a woman’s stomach in the western Indian state of Gujarat last year.
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