A 46-year-old man from Dalian, Liaoning, recently sought medical attention due to persistent discomfort in his throat, unexpectedly revealing a shocking 8-year-long ordeal of 'hiding a chopstick in his body.' During an examination at the Affiliated Central Hospital of Dalian University of Technology, it was startlingly discovered that a 12-centimeter-long metal chopstick was lodged in his throat—and had actually remained there for as long as 8 years. This bizarre experience has sparked widespread discussion.
According to comprehensive media reports, the man recalled that about 8 years ago, during a drinking party, he accidentally swallowed the chopstick while drunk and in a dazed state. He immediately experienced a strong choking sensation and waves of pain in his neck, but did not have any difficulty breathing. Although he went to the hospital right away and the doctor provided simple treatment to relieve his acute discomfort, he was told that surgery involving 'cutting open the neck' would be required to remove the chopstick. Deeply concerned about the trauma and risks of surgery, Mr. Wang ultimately chose to forgo treatment, resulting in the metal chopstick being lodged in his throat tissues for as long as 8 years.
Although, in the years that followed, he would occasionally feel a foreign body sensation or mild pain in his throat, he always dismissed these symptoms, naively thinking they were just 'normal physiological reactions after drinking' or simply hangover-related throat inflammation, and thus never considered undergoing a medical examination.
It wasn’t until recently, when his throat pain became severe and unbearable—eventually affecting eating and even breathing—that he finally sought help at a local hospital. Through imaging, doctors found the 12-centimeter-long metal foreign object had become embedded behind the soft palate, with about 3 centimeters protruding outside. Fortunately, the surrounding throat mucosa showed no obvious damage, bleeding, or signs of infection and suppuration. The vocal cord activity was normal, and the laryngeal structure was not compressed or displaced.
Taking into account the patient's concerns about surgical trauma, the medical team opted for a minimally invasive 'transoral foreign body removal' procedure, eliminating the need for an open neck surgery, and successfully removed the entire stainless steel chopstick through the mouth.