Working pen removed from woman's stomach after 25 years

A pen has been removed from a woman's stomach after 25 years - and it still works.

The discovery was found after the 76-year-old went to the doctors complaining of weight loss and diarrhoea.

Doctors at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital Foundation Trust took a CT scan of her abdomen to find a pen-shaped object inside.

The patient informed doctors that 25 years previously she had been using a pen to poke at her tonsils while looking in a mirror, but slipped and accidentally swallowed it. Her husband and doctors dismissed her claims after no pen was found in tests made at the time.

A gastroscopy was performed, where a plastic felt-tip pen was found in the lumen of her stomach, before it was removed.

Surprisingly, the pen was still in perfect working condition after 25 years.

While reporting on the case, Dr Oliver Waters stated: "Occasionally it may be worth believing the patient's account however unlikely it may be."

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