Delhi man swallows 39 coins and 37 magnets presuming zinc would help in bodybuilding: report

When doctors asked him why he had consumed the coins and magnets, he said he thought the zinc content, in the former, would help in building his body. (Representational Image).

A Delhi man swallowed 39 coins and 37 magnets after presuming that the zinc content in the former would help him in bodybuilding, a Times of India report said.

Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the national capital said that the patient came to the medical facility's emergency room after complaining of repeated vomiting and abdominal pain for over 20 days.

The man's relatives told the doctors that he had eaten coins and magnets in that period and an X-ray of his abdomen showed radio opaque shadows with the shape of coins and magnets. The man underwent a CT scan as well, which showed a large chunk of coins and magnets that had blocked his intestines.

When doctors asked him why he had consumed the coins and magnets, he said he thought the zinc content, in the former, would help build his body. He also said that magnet would ensure the coins remained in the intestine and assist in absorbing the zinc.

The man was hospitalised and doctors performed a two-hour surgery to remove 39 coins and 37 magnets from inside his body.

"The intestines were opened and the coins and magnets were taken out. Both the loops were rejoined by two different anastomoses."

"We took an operative X-ray which showed all foreign bodies had been removed," Dr. Tarun Mittal, senior consultant, laparoscopic, laser & general surgery at the hospital told The Times of India.

Mittal cautioned the general public from attempting to eat coins and magnets as it could be "life-threatening".

"I would like to inform people that ingestion of these foreign bodies can be life-threatening and should not be done," he said.

The man was discharged from the hospital two days ago, after spending a week at the facility as part of post-surgery hospitalisation and is said to be doing well now, according to the doctors.