33-Year-Old Man Swallows Nokia 3310 Phone, Undergoes Surgery

An unidentified 33-year-old man needed immediate help from doctors in Kosovo, the Balkans, after he swallowed a phone that got stuck in his stomach.

Sources claimed that his life was in danger as the mobile phone was "too large for him to digest," Mirror reported. The man incredibly succeeded in swallowing a Nokia 3310, a phone made in the early 2000s.

Reports said that the man was suffering from tremendous pain from swallowing the mobile phone and went to a hospital located in the capital Pristina. Medical respondents had to assist him after the mobile phone got wedged in his stomach.

Doctors said that the man’s life was in jeopardy because the phone contained corrosive battery acid that could have contaminated his entire stomach.

Warning: Graphic pictures and video.

Skender Teljaku, the medical team leader shared photos on social media of the mobile phone after it was recovered from the man’s stomach, as well as X-ray images while the phone was still inside. Doctors successfully removed the mobile without cutting into the man’s abdomen. Instead, they took the phone out in three pieces using endoscopy.

The lead doctor was pleased with how the operation went and claimed that they expect no complications as of now.

A mobile phone is said to be one of many strange items some people swallow. In the past, there have been reports of individuals who tried to swallow mobile phones. In 2014, a 35-year-old male attempted to swallow a handset that got stuck it in his throat. Doctors had to surgically remove the mobile phone.

In 2016, a 29-year-old also swallowed a mobile phone. The patient vomited for several hours in trying to throw up, but the phone remained inside the stomach. Doctors then safely removed the mobile phone via surgery.

Most foreign items people try to swallow spontaneously pass, however, 10% to 20% of these cases require endoscopy and 1% of removals probably require surgery or treatment of a complication, as per the British Society of Gastroenterology. Bones, batteries, buttons, coins and plastic items were the common foreign objects that are not meant to be swallowed but some people still do.