By Stephen Matthews Health Editor For Mailonline
Published: 11:14 GMT, 19 February 2019 | Updated: 11:14 GMT, 19 February 2019
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A collection of stones, bottle caps and coins weighing 4.4lbs (2kg) have been pulled out of a man's stomach.
The 54-year-old patient, who has not been identified, complained of pain in his stomach and sought help from medics.
Doctors noticed the man was bloated and could feel 'something resembling small stones' when they touched his abdomen.
Scans then showed a mammoth build-up of objects 'occupying the whole stomach' of the South Korean patient
The extracted foreign bodies composed of pebbles, coins, and bottle caps, Dr Choi wrote in the scientific publication
Scans then showed a mammoth build-up of objects 'occupying the whole stomach' of the South Korean patient.
Upon questioning, the man confessed he often ingested coins and pebbles whenever he felt anxious – despite taking drugs to calm him.
The man, thought to be from Goyang - just north of the capital Seoul and close to the North Korea border - was born with an intellectual disability.
The 'extremely unusual' tale was published by Dr Pyong Wha Choi in the American Journal of Medical Case Reports.
Surgeons first tried to remove the objects using a gastroscopy – where a thin tube is inserted into the stomach through the mouth.
However, it failed because of the sheer amount of objects that were present. It is not clear how many the man had
