Indian man has 40 knives removed from stomach

A man in India swallowed 40 knives because he "liked the way they tasted". Photo / Herald

Stunned surgeons in India have removed 40 metal knives from a patient who had an 'uncontrollable urge' to eat the cutlery.

The 42-year-old, whose real name was not published, received emergency treatment at a hospital in Gurdaspur, a city in the North India state of Punjab, after complaining of abdomen pain and weakness.

A team of surgeons were astonished when they discovered he had swallowed dozens of knives over the last two months because "he liked the way they tasted", Barcroft Media reports.

Dr Jitinder Malhotra, managing director of the hospital, described it as the most shocking case he had seen in his 20-year career.

"When we began the diagnosis, we found the cause of the pain puzzling. We did an ultrasound, which revealed some solid mass in his stomach, shaped like cancer," he said.

"The patient then told us he had an uncontrollable urge to eat knives. What is astonishing is that he had been eating knives (for) the past two months.

"This was very unnerving, I have not witnessed something like this in my career as a doctor."

After five hours of surgery, the patient was successfully treated and is set to be discharged in the next few days.

Earlier this year, a massive hairball was removed from British woman's stomach after seven years.

And a Welsh woman who complained of an ear-ache was horrified when doctors found a live spider in her ear.