It was a combination of shock and surprise for doctors at the Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) when they operated on the abdomen of a man who had been vomiting blood for the past few days.
The “mentally imbalanced” Tarun Rabidas, 22, of Balurghat in South Dinajpur had been visiting his relatives at Agra under the Habibpur police station in Malda, and doctors said that he had swallowed needles and spoons and had been vomiting blood since the past few days.
“After he fell ill, he was admitted to the Malda Medical College and Hospital where a team of three doctors on Friday operated on him and took out foreign bodies from the abdomen. The youth is now in a stable condition and family members are thanking the doctors for their quick response,” family sources said.
According to hospital sources, the patient had been suffering from severe abdominal pain. “He was then admitted to the medical ward and an xray revealed the presence of foreign elements in his stomach. An immediate operation was planned, but due to low haemoglobin in the patient’s body, it was not possible.
Dr Arijit Mukherjee, a surgeon of the operating team, said, “His blood group, O negative, is also a rare one. We anyhow arranged a unit of the blood this morning and successfully operated his stomach for almost one and quarter of an hour.”
He added that he, along with Dr Abhishek Mandal and Dr Atish Haldar, found a
needle, broken teaspoons and a small metal rod in the patient’s stomach. Later, after stitching up his stomach, we found that a handle of a spoon was also stuck in his duodenum, which was later removed manually.
“The youth was found to be mentally imbalanced as he never admitted that he had swallowed the spoons or the needles,” hospital sources said. The Medical Superintendent and the Vice-principal of the MMCH, Dr Amit Dawn, said the patient is in a stable condition now.