REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, HO CHI MINH CITY -- Vietnamese doctors have removed a small stone stuck inside the nasal cavity of an 85 year- old man who claimed to have lived with it for 80 years, online local newspaper Thanh Nien (Young People) News reported Saturday.
KThem, a Cham Ma ethnic man living in the southern province of Dong Nai, was hospitalized with a blocked and sore nose and liquid oozing out of it. An X-ray scan later discovered a pebble measuring one centimeter in diameter and 1.5 centimeters in length deep inside his nasal cavity.
The stone was covered with layers of tissue, doctors said, explaining that his body might have tried to wrap it as a defense mechanism. Doctors had to remove the layers and cut the stone before taking the pieces out.
KThem has been recovering from the 45-minute operation on Friday, doctors said, adding that he could be discharged in a few days.
The old man recalled that when he was around five or six, he had crammed the pebble into his nose while playing with friends and had forgotten to take it out.