X-ray Reveals Nearly 200 Coins in Man's Enormously Dilated Stomach

A man in India was found to have nearly 200 coins inside his stomach after going to the hospital with stomach pain.

The 58-year-old was taken by his relatives to Hangal Sri Kumareshwar Hospital in Bagalkot, located in the southwestern Karnataka region of India, on November 27. Doctors performed an endoscopy and an X-ray to investigate his stomach and found 187 coins inside: 56 five-rupee coins, 51 two-rupee coins and 80 one-rupee coins, as reported by the Hindustan Times.

In total, the coins weighed 3.3 lbs. They were subsequently surgically removed by the doctors.

"He had been swallowing these coins from last two to three months," Eshwar Kalaburgi, one of the doctors who performed the surgery, told the Hindustan Times.

"He came to the hospital complaining of vomiting and abdominal discomfort. Based on his symptoms, we did an X-ray and endoscopy and found coins in the stomach. So, we decided to operate upon him."

Kalaburgi said that the coins had lodged themselves in all sorts of hard-to-reach places in the man's stomach, making them difficult to locate and remove.

"The stomach was dilated enormously... lots of coins were stuck in different places of the stomach. After two hours of surgery, we retrieved all the coins. Following the operation, he was treated for water deficiency and other minor issues. The patient is stable and is talking as of now," Kalaburgi said.

There are several reasons that can lead someone to eat non-food items. One is an eating disorder called pica, which compels sufferers to consume items that hold no nutritional value—such as dirt, or hair—or that may even harm them, including sharp objects and toxic metals.

Pica can be a side effect of pregnancy, and often occurs in young children, but may also be associated with other mental health issues, including schizophrenia.

In the case of the Bagalkot man, his doctors suspect that this was the reason for his excessive coin consumption.

"As he was suffering from schizophrenia... in this condition, the patients are unaware of what they are doing. These are rare cases. It's a first of a kind case for me in my 40 years of service," Kalaburgi said.

Schizophrenia may lead to visual and other sensory hallucinations, strong delusions and thought disorder.

"Symptoms include increased aggression, suspicion and fearfulness," Pallavi Joshi, a consultant psychiatrist at Manipal Hospital Varthur, told the Hindustan Times. "As dopamine levels rise, they will not be able to sleep and become more irritated. Patients won't realize that they have this problem, they would think it is other people's problems. In disorganized schizophrenia, thoughts become so disorganized that sometimes they cannot distinguish between edible and non-edible. This can also lead to self-harm."

Pica can be dangerous, depending on what is being eaten. People can develop brain damage from lead or other heavy metal poisoning as a result of eating lead paint or soil taken from roadsides contaminated with tetraethyllead. Parasites can also be contracted after eating of animal feces, either deliberately or from eating soil. Additionally, if the object eaten is sharp or heavy, it may cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract.

Is there a health issue that's worrying you? Do you have a question about eating inedible objects? Let us know via health@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.

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