A 64-year-old man from Anhui Province in Eastern China experienced the shock of his life recently after visiting the doctor to seek treatment for a stomach ache.
This is after the doctor, who was himself shocked, discovered that the man had a toothbrush stuck in his small intestine for decades!
An elderly Chinese man had a toothbrush stuck in his small intestine for 52 years!
As reported by SCMP, the elderly man, surnamed Yang, visited the doctor due to a strange sensation he’s been experiencing in his stomach.
After the doctor told him about the toothbrush stuck in his intestines, Yang remembered that he had actually swallowed the item some 52 years ago when he was 12 years old.
However, he was scared to tell his parents about it and thought that the toothbrush would dissolve on its own. Furthermore, he hadn’t felt anything out of the ordinary in his stomach until very recently.
Hospital doctors then checked his digestive system and confirmed that the 52-year-old toothbrush was stuck in his small intestine.
They then performed endoscopic surgery on Yang and successfully removed the 17 cm-long toothbrush in 80 minutes.
The hospital noted that the dental equipment was one of the longest items the hospital had taken out of a patient’s digestive system in the past 3 years.
The bizarre medical predicament could’ve been fatal
Commenting on the shocking medical case, a doctor surnamed Zhou said that under normal circumstances, a toothbrush in the intestines could rotate, press, and puncture the inner tissue. Moreover, it could’ve caused intestinal perforation, which may be fatal.
Thankfully, in Yang’s case, the toothbrush was lodged in a crook of the intestine and had barely moved for decades.
So, what do you guys think of this bizarre incident? Do share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Also read: Thai Doctors Find Drug Packets in Austrian Man’s Stomach After Spotting Pink Discharge From Rectum
