Ireland: Doctors Successfully Remove 55 Batteries From Woman's Gut, Highest Count Ever

A 66-year-old woman reportedly swallowed over 50 cylindrical batteries in an act of deliberate self-harm. After she was admitted to the hospital, the doctors at St Vincent¡¯s Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, removed the batteries from her stomach and colon.

Doctors remove 55 batteries from woman's gut

The woman had also passed five AA batteries shortly after admission, bringing the total number ingested in an apparent act of deliberate self-harm to 55. The doctors think this is a record.

She was treated at St Vincent's University Hospital after ingesting an initially "unknown number" of cylindrical batteries, according to a report of the case, published Thursday in the Irish Medical Journal.

Irish Journal

The doctors initially thought the patient will naturally pass the batteries through her body but subsequent scans showed most were still weighing down on her stomach as she could only release five AA batteries in the first week.

Batteries made the stomach hang over the pubic bone

Since the batteries were too heavy, the stomach ended up hanging over the pubic bone which necessitated a surgical removal of the foreign objects.

The surgeons then cut a small hole through her stomach and removed 46 batteries - including both AA and AAA - from the organ.

Medical News Today/Representational Image

According to Live Science, the remaining four batteries, stuck in the colon, were "milked" into her rectum and removed through the anus.

"To the best of our knowledge, this case represents the highest reported number of batteries ingested at a single point in time," the doctors said.

Irish Journal

There was no structural damage to her body fortunately because these electrochemical devices didn't block her gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

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