Odisha man unknowingly lived with 8 cm knife in lung for 3 years, left doctors stunned

Doctors in Odisha were shocked to know that the knife stayed inside the man's lungs for three years without harming any of his organs.

Doctos at a government hospital in Berhampur in Odisha miraculously removed an eight-centimetre-long broken piece of knife from the lungs of a 24-year-old man.

The 8 cm knife was first detected during an X-ray examination at the hospital when the man started coughing blood.(Representational)

The sharp piece of knife was lodged in the man's lung for over three years after he was stabbed by an unknown man in Bengaluru, news agency PTI said.

A team of doctors in government-run MKCG Medical College and Hospital removed the sharp knife from the lungs of Santosh Das by conducting a right thoracotomy operation on Tuesday.

The steel knife was eight centimetre long, 2.5 cm wife and 3mm thick.

Das' operation was conducted without any complication and he is nwo recovering in the ICU, Dr Sarada Prasanna Sahoo told PTI.

Lived with knife in lung

Santosh Das revealed that the knife entered his body after he was stabbed in Bengaluru three year ago when he worked there as a labourer. He was stabbed in his neck and was treated at a Bengaluru hospital and was healthy for the next two years.

However, nearly a year ago, he started suffering from dry cough and fever, raising fears of tuberculosis. He has also completed the nine-month treatment of the tuberculosis but his condition did not improve.

His family rushed rushed him to the hospital when he started coughing blood.

During an X-ray examination, a foreign object was detected in his right lung and after conducting a CT scan and bronchoscopy, its presence was confirmed. "A group of around eight doctors in CTVS and anaesthesia departments, nursing officers and para-medical staff conducted the surgery and removed the sharp metal piece successfully," Dr Sahoo told PTI, adding that they were shocked that the sharp metal piece did not puncture his organs.

"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.

(With PTI inputs)