Chinese Man Discovers Thermometer Swallowed As A Child Decades Later After Stomach Pain

A routine hospital visit for stomach pain turned into a surprising discovery for a man in China when doctors found a decades-old object inside his body. The 32-year-old man, surnamed Wang, from Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, had gone to the Longgang branch of The first affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University for treatment, reported the South China Morning Post.

During examination, a scan revealed a foreign object in his duodenum, which doctors strongly suspected to be a mercury thermometer. The situation was serious as the tip of the thermometer was pressing directly against the intestinal wall, creating a high risk of perforation and severe internal bleeding.

Wang said he had accidentally swallowed the thermometer at the age of 12, but he was too scared to inform his parents. At that time, his parents were busy with work, and since he did not experience any symptoms, the matter was eventually forgotten.

Doctors performed a very careful procedure to remove the object and completed the operation in just 20 minutes. The surgery was challenging because the thermometer had been inside the body for a long time and was located near the bile ducts, posing a high risk of damage to the intestinal wall.

After removal, the thermometer was found to be intact, although its measurement marks had faded over time.

Experts at the hospital's Endoscopy Center said that if a person accidentally swallows a foreign object, they should immediately stop eating and drinking, reduce swallowing and speaking, and seek medical help without delay.