Chinese man, 64, finds toothbrush he swallowed at age 12 stuck in intestine, needs surgery
Fran Lu in Beijing
A 64-year-old Chinese man who felt a strange sensation in his stomach and went to the doctor was shocked to discover that a toothbrush had been stuck in his intestines for 52 years.
The man, surnamed Yang, from eastern China's Anhui province, said he remembered swallowing it at the age of 12 and was too scared to tell his parents about it.
Yang said he thought the toothbrush would dissolve on its own and had not felt anything untoward until recently.
Hospital doctors checked his digestive system and found the toothbrush stuck in his small intestine.
They performed endoscopic surgery on him and took the rogue 17-cm dental implement out of his body in 80 minutes.
It was one of the longest items the hospital had taken out of a patient's digestive system in the past three years.
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