A team of doctors at the Bhimrao Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital ( BAMCH) in Raipur, Chhatisgarh has solid reason to believe Chandrashekhar Goswami, a schizophrenic farmer from Kawardha, is an epitome of luck, reports Mail Today.
For they removed 122 nails — each 5- 6 cm long — and a ` 1 coin from the stomach of this 46- year- old. The surgical procedure lasted an hour or thereabouts.
The doctors haven't been able to ascertain since when Goswami has been swallowing nails. “ The patient is schizophrenic and couldn't tell us when he had started swallowing nails. We believe he may have been gulping down nails over the past few months,” Dr A. K. Sharma, the head of the department of surgery at BAMCH, said. Sharma was the lead surgeon who operated on Goswami.
The foreign bodies were spotted in the farmer's body when X- rays showed a clump of opaque objects inside his stomach. None of his relatives had seen Goswami swallowing nails and, therefore, were clueless as to what the foreign bodies were. They now suspect he may have picked up the nails from the construction site of his house.
According to Goswami's son Kuber, about a week before the surgery his father began showing signs of unease. He was unable to hold down food and would vomit immediately after taking food. He also began complaining of severe stomachache, Kuber said.
When Goswami's condition worsened, Kuber took him to a mental hospital.
The doctors there found Goswami was not suffering due to his mental condition and that the problem had to do with some other ailment.
They advised an Xray of his abdomen. “ The X- ray reports revealed the presence of foreign bodies inside his stomach but we were not sure what the objects were,” Kuber said.
Based on the X- ray reports, the mental hospital immediately referred Goswami to the BAMCH for an immediate medical examination. At the hospital, he was subjected to an endoscopic examination.
The endoscope revealed nails lodged at the base of Goswami's stomach.
“ The X- ray had shown only opaque foreign bodies.
The endoscope showed the nails lodged in the curve at the base of the stomach.
Because they had settled in the curve, none of the nails had passed into the intestine,” Dr Manju Singh, an assistant professor and member of the team that performed the surgery, said.
The doctors said Goswami was lucky as the nails hadn't caused significant damage to his food pipe or stomach.
