Psychologically ill man addicted to swallowing two-inch NAILS has 116 of them removed from his intestine in gruelling surgery

May 15, 2019  15:27

Stomach-churning footage has emerged showing surgeons removing more than 100 nails from a man's intestines.

Doctors said Bhola Shankar, from Bundi in Rajasthan state, India, was lucky to be alive after gobbling down the two-inch spikes.

At least 116 iron nails, which somehow did not pierce his stomach, were recovered from the 43-year-old's body.

While he was in the hospital, doctors discovered the man had also been eating other pieces of metal including wires – but could not explain how they ended up inside his body.

He was brought into the Bundi government hospital and deemed psychologically unwell after an X-ray revealed his unusual habit.

The patient - who is thought to be schizophrenic - had reportedly kept it a secret from his family.

Dr Anil Saini, who led a team of doctors as they conducted the operation, said it was the first case of its kind in Rajasthan.

He also revealed the patient had been swallowing wires and 'other sharp metal objects'.

He added: 'The patient is not able to narrate how the nails ended up in his intestine.

'He is lucky the sharp objects did not puncture his organs or it could have proved fatal.'

The patient's younger brother said he'd been taking medicine for mental illness for the last two and a half decades.

Despite the lengthy operation, the patient was recovering well.

In 2017, surgeons retrieved 639 nails from a schizophrenic man's intestines using a magnet.

The 48-year-old patient, also from India, was brought into hospital after vomiting repeatedly and complaining about pain in his stomach.

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