Man Undergoes Rare Surgery After Swallowing 39 Coins and 37 Magnets in Bid to “Boost Bodybuilding”
New Delhi: In a complex and uncommon surgery, doctors at Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital successfully removed a staggering 39 coins and 37 magnets from a man’s intestine. The man, suffering from a mental health condition, reportedly ingested these objects believing they would aid in his bodybuilding efforts due to the presence of zinc in the coins.
The patient initially consulted Dr. Tarun Mittal, a senior consultant, in the hospital’s outpatient department. His family revealed a history of ingesting coins and magnets over the past few weeks, and the patient was already receiving treatment for a known psychiatric illness.
An X-ray and subsequent CT scan confirmed the presence of a large amount of coins and magnets, causing a blockage in the patient’s small intestine. The two loops of the intestine were found to be stuck together due to the magnetic attraction, leading to erosion.
The surgery involved opening the affected loops, carefully removing the foreign objects, and repairing the damaged sections with two separate procedures called anastomoses. Additionally, the patient’s stomach also contained a significant number of coins, which were extracted through another surgical opening and repaired.
The recovered items included 39 coins of various denominations (₹1, ₹2, and ₹5) and 37 magnets of different shapes (heart, spherical, star, bullet, and triangle).
