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Bagalkot: Doctors remove 187 coins from man’s stomach
After he complained of stomach ache, his relatives rushed him to Hangal Sri Kumareshwar Hospital . The medicos carried out his X-ray and performed and endoscopy, said the doctor, adding, the patient had swallowed a total of 187 coins: 56 coins of ₹5, 51 of ₹2, and 80 of ₹1
In a bizarre incident, doctors on Sunday removed 187 coins from a 58-year-old man’s stomach in Bagalkot city, people in the know of the matter said on Monday.
The man identified as Dyamappa Harijan is a resident of Lingsugur town in Raichur district. The patient was suffering from schizophrenia, a psychiatric illness, said one of the doctors attending on him, requesting anonymity. Harijan had swallowed coins of various denominations weighing a total of 1.5 kilogram over a period of two to three months, said the doctor.
After he complained of stomach ache on Saturday, his relatives rushed him to Hangal Sri Kumareshwar Hospital attached to S Nijalingappa Medical College in Bagalkot. The medicos carried out his X-ray and performed and endoscopy, said the doctor, adding, the patient had swallowed a total of 187 coins: 56 coins of ₹5, 51 of ₹2, and 80 of ₹1.
“He was suffering from a psychiatric problem. He had been swallowing these coins from last two to three months. 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,” Dr Eshwar Kalaburgi, one of the doctors who performed the surgery, said.
The doctor said while the surgery was not difficult to perform, the task was to take out all the coins from his stomach.
“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,” Dr Kalaburgi said.
“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,” Dr Kalaburgi said.
Apart from Dr Kalaburgi, other members of the team included Prakash Kattimani, Roopa Hulakunde and A Archana, all practising doctors.
Explaining the condition, Dr Pallavi Joshi, consultant psychiatrist at Manipal Hospital Varthur, said, “Schizophrenia is a thought disorder which can have neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental hypothesis. It has both neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental reasons. Neurodevelopmental means there are developmental problems and neurodegenerative means that there are some things in the brain that is getting degenerated.”
“Symptoms include increased aggression, suspicion and fearfulness. As dopamine levels rise, they will not be able to sleep and become more irritated. Patients won’t realise that they have this problem, they would think it is other people’s problems. In disorganised Schizophrenia, thoughts become so disorganized that sometimes they cannot distinguish between edible and non-edible.This can also lead to self-harm,” Dr Joshi said.
