Doctors remove chopstick stuck in man's stomach for 28 years

(AFP) – 2 hours ago

SHANGHAI — Surgeons in Shanghai have operated on a 50-year-old Chinese man to remove a chopstick that he swallowed 28 years ago, state media reported.

The man, identified by his surname Zhang, had gone decades without having the chopstick removed because it had not caused him any trouble, the official China Daily reported on Wednesday.

Zhang thought he had completely digested the chopstick until he started having stomach problems and sought medical attention after he passed out, the Oriental Morning Post newspaper reported.

It was then that doctors spotted the remains of the chopstick inside Zhang, the Post said, citing Zhang Dongwei, one of the surgeons at Tongji Hospital.

The surgeons slowly extracted it through a small incision in his stomach, the report said.

Hospital officials were not immediately available for comment on Wednesday. The reports did not say when the operation took place, nor whether the chopstick was made of wood or plastic.

Neither report had an explanation for why the man swallowed the chopstick, saying only that he was in "an agitated emotional state" at the time.