Post by Adolfo on Apr 10, 2009 3:56:17 GMT -5
Man accidentally swallows a pair of scissors while laughing
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 4:06 PM on 02nd April 2009
These are the astonishing X-rays that show how surgeons saved a man's life after he accidentally swallowed a pair of sharp scissors.
Kong Lin, 27, had borrowed a four-inch long pair of nail scissors as a toothpick after a meal.
But as one of his pals told a joke, Mr Lin laughed - and promptly swallowed the clippers.
At first he tried to cough up the scissors but the points were facing upwards and just got stuck deeper into his flesh.
Surgeon Chen Wei at the emergency hospital in Putian, eastern China, explained: 'When he came in, his face was twisted, pale, and sweating.
'The patient was having difficulty swallowing, and blood was mixed with his saliva."'
X-rays showed scissors had completely entered Mr Lin's oesophagus, with the sharp points sticking up into the epiglottis.
Surgeons could only operate under local anaesthetic as knocking him out would have relaxed his body so much that the scissors would have slipped deeper down the throat.
But they succeeded in removing the scissors - and Mr Lin managed to escape relatively unscathed.
'The entire surgery took around 30 minutes. Luckily Mr Lin does not have much of a wound left inside his throat,' said Dr Chen.
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 4:06 PM on 02nd April 2009
These are the astonishing X-rays that show how surgeons saved a man's life after he accidentally swallowed a pair of sharp scissors.
Kong Lin, 27, had borrowed a four-inch long pair of nail scissors as a toothpick after a meal.
But as one of his pals told a joke, Mr Lin laughed - and promptly swallowed the clippers.
At first he tried to cough up the scissors but the points were facing upwards and just got stuck deeper into his flesh.
Surgeon Chen Wei at the emergency hospital in Putian, eastern China, explained: 'When he came in, his face was twisted, pale, and sweating.
'The patient was having difficulty swallowing, and blood was mixed with his saliva."'
X-rays showed scissors had completely entered Mr Lin's oesophagus, with the sharp points sticking up into the epiglottis.
Surgeons could only operate under local anaesthetic as knocking him out would have relaxed his body so much that the scissors would have slipped deeper down the throat.
But they succeeded in removing the scissors - and Mr Lin managed to escape relatively unscathed.
'The entire surgery took around 30 minutes. Luckily Mr Lin does not have much of a wound left inside his throat,' said Dr Chen.
