Doctors remove 187 coins from man’s stomach; know which disease made him swallow them

In a bizarre incident, doctors of Hangal Sri Kumareshwar Hospital on Sunday removed 187 coins from a man’s stomach in Bagalkot city.

58-year-old man identified as Dyamappa Harijan was suffering from schizophrenia, a psychiatric illness. A resident of Lingsugur town in Raichur district, Harijan had swallowed coins of various denominations weighing a total of 1.5 kilogram over a period of two to three months.

He complained of stomach ache on Saturday. He was rushed to the hospital attached to S Nijalingappa Medical College in Bagalkot. On carrying out his X-ray and performing endoscopy, doctor found coins in the stomach.

After performing the surgery, the doctors removed a total of 187 coins: 56 coins of Rs 5, 51 of Rs 2, and 80 of Rs 1.

Hindustan Times quoted Dr Eshwar Kalaburgi, one of the doctors who performed the surgery as saying, “He was suffering from a psychiatric problem. He had been swallowing these coins from last two to three months. He came to the hospital complaining of vomiting and abdominal discomfort. Based on his symptoms, we did an X-ray and endoscopy and found coins in the stomach. So, we decided to operate upon him.”

The doctors had a tough time retrieving all the coins from his stomach as lots of coins were stuck in different places of the stomach.

Dr Pallavi Joshi, consultant psychiatrist at Manipal Hospital Varthur, said, “Schizophrenia is a thought disorder which has both neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental reasons. Symptoms include increased aggression, suspicion and fearfulness. In disorganised Schizophrenia, thoughts become so disorganized that sometimes they cannot distinguish between edible and non-edible. Dr Joshi added.