Some of the most weird Things Swallowed By People
While it is expected babies and little kids at times try to eat things that are not meant to be eaten, but how about when adults too end up swallowing things that isn’t food or medicine. We picked up five cases of people who have swallowed weird objects, which have been discovered in their stomach. Let’s go through five strange things people have swallowed.
Cellphone
A 29-year-old prisoner in Ireland was rushed to the emergency room after he claime to have swallowed a cellphone. The X-ray taken confirmed that the phone was in the man’s stomach. As the phone didn’t pass through the digestive system on its own, doctors tried to remove it using medical tools to pull the device up through the esophagus. However, the doctors were not able to arrange the phone correctly to get it out of the stomach without possibly damaging the esophagus. Finally, the doctors had to make a make a surgical incision into the man’s stomach to get the phone out.
SpongeBob
Doctors were in for a surprise when an X-ray of a 16-month-old boy’s throat whom they treated revealed SpongeBob SquarePants in it. The child happened to swallow a pendant featuring the cartoon character that belonged to his sister. The doctors were able to remove the pendant without any difficulties.
A fitness tracker
A 13-year-old South Korean girl swallowed her Misfit Shine activity tracker by mistake after she put it in her mouth while swimming. The device continued to remain in the girl’s stomach even after waiting for 30 hours for the device to pass on its own. Ultimately, the doctors decided to try and remove it. They were able to use a snare-like tool to noose the tracker, and remove it out. The Shine still worked, and the girl recovered fast.
Dental instrument
While undergoing a root canal, a 4-year-old boy in India suddenly moved his head, and ended up swallowing a sharp dental instrument called a pro taper file, which is used for root canals and looks like a small screwdriver. In the beginning, doctors were not sure if the boy had inhaled the file or swallowed it, but an X-ray suggested the instrument was in his stomach. As the boy did not complain of pain, the doctors waited to see if the instrument would pass through the digestive tract on its own. X-rays taken later showed that the instrument was moving, and 41 hours later it passed out through his digestive tract.
Cigarette Lighter
A Croatian man was reported to have intentionally swallowed a cigarette lighter when he was at a police station where he was being questioned about possibly smuggling drugs, according to a 2012 report of the case. The said lighter was in his stomach for 17 months. The man wasn’t exposed to the toxic chemicals in the lighter, even after all that time, as he had wrapped the lighter in cellophane. Doctors were able to successfully remove the lighter pulling it out through the man’s esophagus using a snare-like medical tool.
