Incredible pictures of 227 metal objects - weighing 4.5lbs

Coins, keys, bolts, chains and several pieces of wire were also among the cache of metal removed during the emergency operation.

The 25-year-old man who suffers from pica – an eating disorder that is characterised by the desire to eat items with little or no nutritional value – was admitted to hospital vomiting blood.

After carrying out x-rays, medical staff at Ngwelezana hospital in Empangeni, 90 miles north of Durban, were shocked to see the a vast array of foreign objects he had swallowed.

The weight had caused his stomach to shift from the upper to lower abdomen.

Dr Maheshwar Naidoo told MailOnline: 'When he first came in, we expected the patient to be suffering from an ulcer as he was vomiting blood. 

'Once we saw the x-ray, we realised we were looking at a mass of overlapping metal objects and knew we had to operate quickly. 

'There was a concern that the sharp items might perforate the stomach wall, or damage internal organs.'

Dr Naidoo led the surgical team which removed the objects through an incision from his belly button up to his chest.

'The operation took about two hours to remove everything one-by-one, and clean the stomach properly,' Dr Naidoo said.

'The trickiest objects to remove were probably the two forks - but there were many very sharp objects, such as screws, nails and pieces of wire that must have been very difficult for him to swallow. 

'The items had a combined weight of about 4.5lbs which resulted in the patient's stomach actually dropping. The stomach was then cleaned and sutured.'

Dr Naidoo added: 'Once removed, we could see how the stomach juices had tarnished the metal so the items were very dark grey and dull.'  

The man, who has not been identified, is now recovering at home after being prescribed drugs for a psychiatric condition.

'These cases are not uncommon; I have seen two other similar cases during my time, Dr Naidoo said.

'However, this is the greatest number of items that I have removed from any of my patients.'

(dailymail.co.uk)