A group of medics have reported a bizarre case in which they were forced to extract over 450 small metal objects from a 37 year-old man’s stomach.
Over 6lbs (nearly 3kg) of screws, metal nuts, keys, plaques and ‘other metal parts’ as well as stones were eventually found in the patient’s insides.
Startling X-rays show the mass of metal blocking the exit of the man’s stomach, which was causing him chronic stomach pain and frequent vomiting that left him unable to eat or drink.
Medics from the Iranian city of Ahvaz, near the country’s border with Iraq, who reported the case said the patient was eventually diagnosed with psychosis, a mental condition where a person loses connection with reality.
Documenting the case in the Journal of Medical Case Reports, doctors said they believed the patient had been ingesting the metallic collection for least three months.
Startling X-Rays show the mass of metal blocking the exit of the man’s stomach, with the 37-year-old believed to have ingested the metallic collection over at least three months
An endoscopy, where a tiny flexible camera is inserted into the throat also confirmed the metallic mass
Medics whisked the man away to surgery and, via an incision into his stomach, extracted a total of 452 ‘screws, nuts, keys, stones, and other metal parts’ weighing 2.9kg, about 6.5lbs.
The patient reportedly recovered well from the surgery and was shortly after diagnosed with psychosis.
Psychosis can take the form of hallucinations but can also lead to delusions about the real world as well as confused and bizarre thinking.
Psychosis is usually triggered by another mental health condition like severe and chronic depression, or other causes like a head injury, brain tumour or a drug addiction.
The medics who detailed the recent case didn’t specify what they believe caused the man’s psychosis, but they did note he was ‘strongly addicted to opium’.
Despite the massive amount of metal consumed the man had apparently suffered no ill-effects prior to his first hospital admission for the issue.
Medics whisked the man away from surgery and, via an incision into his stomach, extracted a total of 452 ‘screws, nuts, keys, stones, and other metal parts’ weighing 2.9kg, about 6.5lbs
Further tests also revealed that no metal objects had entered other parts of his digestive system.
Medics said their patient was diagnosed with psychosis three days after their operation on his stomach and was transferred to a psychiatric a week after surgery.
They added that two weeks later the patient returned to them for a post-surgery evaluation which showed no signs of complications.
Though not a term used in the case report, the compulsive consumption of non-edible items such as hair, paper, sand is medically called pica.
Young children, as well as adults with learning disabilities, are among the most frequent people to have pica but adults under mental strain or duress or with a deficiency of iron or zinc in their diet can sometimes also develop it.
Pregnant women can also develop pica in what is believed to be a reaction to their body seeking certain types of nutrients.
