As many as 39 coins and 37 magnets were removed from a 26-year-old man's intestine after he complained of repeated vomiting and abdominal pain for more than 20 days. The surgery of the patient was performed at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, where the patient told the team of doctors that he swallowed the coins and magnets under the assumption that zinc helps in body-building.
According to the man's family, he was also on treatment for a known case of psychiatric illness and had a history of eating coins and magnets for the past few weeks.
An X-ray of the patient showed radio-opaque shadows in his abdomen in the shape of coins and magnets.
Later, a CT scan showed a huge load of coins and magnets causing blockage of the intestine, following which immediate surgery on the patient was performed.
As the doctors performed the surgery, they saw coins and magnets in the patient's small intestine in two different loops. The magnetic effect pulled the two loops together and eroded them.
The intestines were opened and the coins and magnets were taken out. Both the loops were rejoined by two different anastomoses.
Doctors said that a total of 39 coins (Rs 1, 2, 5 coins) and 37 magnets (heart, spherical, star, bullet and triangle shapes) were recovered from his stomach.
A post-surgery X-ray of the patient confirmed all the foreign objects had been removed from his body. The patient was discharged in a healthy condition after seven days.
