Odisha: A 24-year-old man who had unknowingly carried a broken knife piece in his lung for nearly three years underwent successful surgery at MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur to have it removed, hospital officials said on Thursday.
The knife had been lodged in his body since a stabbing incident nearly three years ago.
The surgery was led by Dr. Sarada Prasanna Sahoo, Associate Professor in the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) Department. The patient, Santosh Das, a resident of Kabisurya Nagar, underwent a right thoracotomy on Tuesday, during which the sharp metal piece was extracted.
Dr. Sahoo said the steel blade measured 8 cm in length and 2.5 cm in width and was 3 mm thick.
Santosh was stabbed in the left side of his neck three years ago while working as a laborer in Bangalore. He was treated at a local hospital at that time and seemed to recover, remaining symptom-free for nearly two years.
However, about a year ago, he began experiencing a persistent dry cough and fever, which led doctors to suspect tuberculosis. He completed a nine-month TB treatment course, but his condition didn’t improve. His family brought him to MKCG Medical College and Hospital on April 19 after he started coughing up blood.
An X-ray showed a foreign object in his lung, later confirmed by a CT scan and bronchoscopy to be a piece of metal lodged in his right lung.
“A group of around eight doctors from the CTVS and anesthesia departments, along with nursing officers and paramedical staff, performed the surgery and successfully removed the sharp object,” Dr. Sahoo said.
"To our utter surprise, the foreign body did not harm any of the vital organs of the body during its movement, though it was very sharp," he added.
Santosh is currently in the ICU, and his condition is stable.
(With inputs from PTI)