Doctors at the Bach Mai Hospital saved a patient's life after successfully completing a rare surgery of his abdomen and removing 59 pieces of porcelain he swallowed a day before.

A dozen porcelain pieces were taken out from a patient's abdomen after the surgery. The patient was found to have swallowed a total of 59 pieces of broken bowls. — Photo courtesy Bach Mai Hospital

The patient, Nguyen Van V, 53, from Bao Thang District, northern mountain Lao Cai Province, was hospitalised earlier last week with some mental disorders. His relatives disclosed that the man broke three or four porcelain bowls and swallowed the pieces.

Preliminary examinations of the abdomen, revealed that the patient's stomach had less food but congestive antral mucosa suffered from injuries due to slither. The doctors found numerous strange objects of different sizes and immediately decided to conduct a surgery.

Dr Tran Manh Hung, the deputy director of the Bach Mai Hospital's Surgery Faculty who led a group of doctors in performing the surgery, said it was a strange and a very rare case.

He said a total of 59 pieces of porcelain had been taken out of the patient's stomach and intestines.

Of the total, the size of the largest piece was about 2cmx4cm.

After surgery, the patient had been closely monitored for eight days. He had recovered and checked out of the hospital.

VNS