He arrived at the emergency room with abdominal pain, nausea, and trouble going to the bathroom. He was 54 years old, Brazilian, and the hospital was in Manaos, in northwestern Brazil.
The X-ray left no room for doubt: a metal object nearly 20 centimeters long and weighing 4,4 pounds, about 2 kilos, was lodged where nothing should be. It was a dumbbell. According to estimates, it had been inside him for at least two days.
The surgeons first tried the simplest approach: forceps. It didn’t work. They had to act quickly to prevent a perforation or another serious injury, so they took him to the operating room and performed emergency surgery.
According to the doctors, it was a “practice of self-gratification”. The patient gave no details about how the dumbbell got there, so that was the explanation offered by the medical team.
The operation went well, and he was discharged three days later, with no complications other than an unusual story to tell 😅
