VietNamNet Bridge - Doctors of the Hanoi-based Vietnam-Germany Hospital have performed a surgery to remove a 4cm-long toothpick from the abdomen of a 53-year-old man from the northern city of Nam Dinh.

The patient at the Vietnam-Germany Hospital.

According to the patient’s family members, he used to hold a toothpick in his mouth after meals and then go to bed.

The man did not remember when he swallowed the toothpick. After he felt a stomachache and had a fever, he went to the provincial hospital for examination but doctors did not find the cause. After 10 days, he was transferred to the Vietnam-German Hospital in Hanoi.

Dr. Duong Trong Hien of the Vietnam-Germany Hospital said the patient was hospitalized on February 6. A scan revealed a foreign body in the abdomen.

Doctors conducted a surgery to remove a 4cm long toothpick from the abdomen. This strange object pierced into the small intestine and escaped outside and created a 5cm abscess.

The piece of wounded small intestine was cut off and the abscess was cleaned. Currently the patient’s health is stable, without fever.

Previously, the hospital treated a 38-year-old patient whose colon was pierced by a sharp toothpick. This person also held a toothpick in his mouth after a meal and he accidentally swallowed it while coughing.

Le Ha