Berhampur: A team of doctors in MKCG Medical College and Hospital here removed an 8-cm-long broken piece of knife from the lungs of a 24-year-old man, an official said on Thursday. The broken knife piece was in the body of the man for the last three years after a stabbing incident.

A group of doctors, led by Sarada Prasanna Sahoo, Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) department, removed the sharp metallic foreign object from the lungs of Santosh Das of Kabisurya Nagar by conducting the right thoracotomy operation on Tuesday, the official said. The length of the steel and sharp knife was around 8 cm, and its width and thickness were 2.5 cm and 3 mm, respectively, said Sahoo. The condition of the patient was good and he was now in the intensive care unit (ICU) under observation, the doctor said. The piece of knife entered his body after he was stabbed by a miscreant in Bangalore, three years ago, when he was working as a labourer. He was stabbed on the left side of his neck. He was cured after being treated at Bangalore and there was no complaint for about two years.

About a year ago, he suffered from dry cough and fever, raising fears of tuberculosis. He has also completed nine-month treatment of tuberculosis, said the doctor. Family members of the patient rushed him to medical college and hospital here when he started getting blood in his cough. He came to the hospital here on April 19. The foreign object was found in his body after conducting an X-ray. It was detected in his right lung after conducting the CT scan and bronchoscopy, said Sahoo. “A group of around eight doctors in CTVS and anaesthesia departments, nursing officers and para-medical staff conducted the surgery and removed the sharp metal piece successfully,” he said.

“To our utter surprise, the foreign body did not harm any of the vital organs of the body during its movement, though it was very sharp,” he said.