Chinese man accidentally swallows 12cm-long metal chopstick, left it in throat for 8 years before getting surgery

A man was recently rushed to a hospital in Dalian, China, due to terrible pain in his throat.

The doctors were stunned when they learned about his case: he had a 12cm-long metal chopstick stuck in his throat for the past eight years.

The 46-year-old man, surnamed Wang, had accidentally swallowed an entire chopstick while eating eight years ago, Guangming Daily reported.

Initially did not want surgery

At the time, he immediately felt like choking and felt intermittent pain in his throat, but it did not cause serious breathing problems.

He quickly went to a hospital, where he received a simple treatment to temporarily relieve discomfort.

A surgery was necessary to remove the chopstick, but as Wang had some concerns about the procedure, he decided not to do it, and continued to live with the chopstick in his throat for eight years.

Tolerated the discomfort

Over the eight years, although Wang would occasionally feel discomfort, he said it was something he could live with.

He often attributed the discomfort to a negative reaction to alcohol, which he often drank, and did not think much about it.

One morning recently, however, he suddenly felt great pain in his throat soon after getting up, and it hurt even more when he tried to swallow.

Realising that something was wrong, Wang hurried to the hospital.

The doctors found that the metal chopstick was embedded in the back of his throat, with about 3cm of the chopstick protruding at the top.

Fortunately, it had not caused any visible bleeding or ulceration in his throat.

This time, the doctors found a solution that addressed Wang's previous concerns and performed a minimally invasive operation to extract the chopstick from his mouth without having to cut his neck.

The chopstick was ultimately removed intact with little bleeding, freeing Wang from the eight-year foreign inhabitant.

Top images from Xiaoxiang Morning Herald