Around 1.5 Kg Metal Objects Removed From Woman’s Stomach in India

Doctors in Ahmedabad have removed around 1.5 kg of foreign materials including nails and metal objects from the stomach of a woman, who was admitted to the hospital after she started complaining of severe stomach ache.

The objects found in her stomach include iron nails, nuts, and bolts, hairpin, safety pins, chains, bracelets, mangalsutra, ring etc., reported Times of India.

According to the report, Sangita, in her mid-40s and mentally unstable, is from the Western Indian state of Maharashtra. She was found wandering on the streets of Ahmedabad. A court ordered that she be taken to Government Hospital for Mental Health, which admitted her to a civil hospital after she complained stomach ache.

UK based publication Mirror said that doctors at the hospital conducted several tests to identify the cause of pain in her stomach and remained dumbfounded after finding a lump of foreign objects in the X-ray.

The publication quoted Dr. Nitin Parmar, senior surgeon at the Ahmedabad Civil hospital as saying, “The stomach of the woman had become rock hard.

When we conducted the X-ray, it showed a lump in her stomach. Safety pins consumed by her had partially perforated her lungs, a pin that she had consumed even punctured her stomach walls prompting us to carry out the surgery immediately.”

Many of the objects removed from her stomach during the operation, that lasted for 2.5 hours, were sharp and metallic.

The doctors said that the woman appears to be suffering from a rare disorder named “Acuphagia,” in which a person tends to eat sharp and non-edible objects.

The Times of India quoted Dr. Parmar as saying, “Acuphagia, is a rare disorder, where a person eats sharp objects and other indigestible objects. It is generally seen in mentally ill persons. We hardly one such case annually. The woman may have been popping such stuff for many months now.”
A psychiatric social worker told the newspaper that Sangita has been kept under observation after her discharge.

The social worker also told the publication that while her family has been found in Maharashtra, they are unwilling to take her back as she has fled from her home three times already and don’t want to take another chance with her.