If you have the habit of neglecting stomach pain and take painkillers to get rid of it, then you should go for a medical check-up, as this Chinese man, realized the reason behind the frequent stomach pain for him was caused by a 9 cm- long lighter, which was inside his body for 20 years.
Jiangxi Television reported that the 40-year-old man from Dujiangyan City, Sichuan province, was suffering from long-term stomach pain and he used to find blood in his stool frequently. When he visited the local hospital, doctors found the black foreign object inside his abdomen after receiving seeing an endoscopy result.
Usually, several cases where surgical instruments, such as sponges, towels, needles, instruments, retractors and other small items and fragments of tools, were left inside a patient's body, have been reported frequently. But in this case, the man said that almost 20 years ago he swallowed a lighter but since he had no symptoms of severe pain, he did not care about it.
When doctors opened his stomach for an operation, they could not succeed in the first attempt as the lighter was relatively large and had a smooth surface. They also found multiple ulcers and bleeding in the man's stomach. But the second attempt was a success.
To take the lighter out of the body, doctors first wrapped it and then made a double loop around it, then they used a forceps to grab the object and guide it out through his oesophagus. The entire process took around 10 minutes. The doctors later confirmed that the lighter was slightly corroded.
The medical staff said the foreign object could have posed life-threatening implications if it had entered the man's intestines.
