X-ray reveals 4lbs of stones, bottle caps and coins in stomach of man ‘who ATE them to calm anxiety’

DOCTORS have pulled 2kg of stones, bottle caps and coins from a man’s stomach, after he went to hospital with belly pain.

When the 54-year-old sought help from medics, they noticed that he was bloated.

A man sought medical attention for a belly ache...which was caused by him eating a load of random objects — A man sought medical attention for a belly ache…which was caused by him eating a load of random objects

Docs had a feel of the problem area and found “something resembling small stones” when they touched his belly.

Scans then showed a massive build-up of objects that were occupying the patient’s entire stomach.

When questioned about his stomach mass, the South Korean patient admitted to often swallowing coins and pebbles whenever he felt anxious – despite taking anti-anxiety drugs to calm him down.

Learning disabilities ups risk of swallowing foreign objects

The man, believed to be from Goyang (near the capital Seoul), was born with a learning disability.

Published by Dr Pyong Wha Choi in the American Journal of Medical Case Reports, medics reported that they first tried to remove the objects using a gastroscopy – where a thin tube is inserted into the stomach via the mouth.

But there were simply too many objects to remove so that approach didn’t work.

The next day, surgeons decided to extract the foreign objects one-by-one.

They found that they included pebbles, coins and bottle caps.

“Surgery was inevitable”

Dr Choi wrote: “Surgery was inevitable as there were too many foreign bodies to extract using endoscopy.”

After nine days in hospital, the patient was allowed to go home but it’s still unclear how long all of that debris had been in his system.

His medical records stated that he had past form eating non-edibles.

It turned out that the guy had ingested 4lbs worth of stones and bottle caps

He had a learning difficulty and had previously sought help for swallowing foreign objects

His entire stomach was full of non-food items

Dr Choi wrote: “Once the foreign bodies pass through the oesophagus, symptoms associated with the foreign body is rare.

“In the present case, even though the patient did not complain of vomiting, the large number of pebbles and coins in his stomach caused him abdominal pain.”

He remarked that swallowing foreign bodies tended to be something more common in adults with learning difficulties and psychiatric disorders.

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