Schizophrenic man, 52, has curved foot-long stick removed from his esophagus after ‘voices told him’ to swallow object
Doctors rushed to extract a foot-long stick from a man’s esophagus after being told by “voices in his head” to swallow it.
The 52-year-old man, who has not been named, came to a hospital in Guatemala about a day after taking the stick complaining of severe abdominal pain.
A case report states that after the incident, the man was diagnosed with schizophrenia – which can cause hallucinations and behavioral problems.
Doctors found that the top of the stick was sticking out of his esophagus — or esophagus — with splinters digging into the sides of the tube. The end of the stick also made indentations in his abdomen.
After an attempt to pull the stick back up his throat failed, they surgically removed it through a hole in the patient’s stomach.
A 52-year-old man in Guatemala came to the hospital after getting a foot-long stick inserted into his esophagus or esophagus (Photo: Scans showing the stick)
Doctors eventually removed the stick (left) via surgery. They said it also left splinters in his trachea. The stick could be felt from outside the patient (right, the end of the stick protrudes into the patient’s side)
In the case report revealing the incident, the man said he swallowed the stick after voices in his head directed him to do so.
He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia, a mental disorder that can lead to mood, behavior and hallucination disorders.
It is not clear where the man found the stick and what it was previously used for.
Doctors at Hospital Roosevelt in Guatemala City, the country’s capital, initially performed scans to estimate the stick’s size — they found it to be 12 inches long and about 0.8 inches wide.
They also checked for damage to other organs, but found no damage to the trachea or piercing of other organs, such as the liver.
He could still breathe because the stick had descended below the opening in the esophagus that connects to the trachea and lungs.
Doctors initially tried to remove the stick with a loop clip.
This device consists of a long, slender shaft with a wire loop at the end that is used to clamp objects before pulling them out.
In this patient’s case, however, the strategy backfired, leading them to opt for surgery instead.
After anesthetizing the patient, they made a small incision in his stomach — in a procedure medically called a gastrotomy.
The stick was then slowly pulled out of his throat through his stomach.
The patient suffered no long-term damage from the incident, but was sent for a mental health evaluation.
In the December case report, they wrote, “The foreign body in the esophagus in the current case is the largest currently reported.”
In previous incidents, people have swallowed everything from plastic bottles to wrenches.
The Guinness World Record for the longest swallowed object is held by American Natasha Veruschka, who in 2009 swallowed an almost two-foot long sword.
Doctors said this may be one of the largest sticks a patient has ever swallowed. The individual was later diagnosed with schizophrenia
It comes after a man in India had to undergo life-saving surgery after swallowing a plastic bottle.
The 55-year-old from Madhya Pradesh, in the center of the country, came to the hospital with severe abdominal pain.
After doctors saw the bottle, they quickly performed surgery to remove it from his body.
It was unclear why the person had swallowed the bottle, but this has been linked to mental disorders in several cases.