A 46 year old man in China has reportedly undergone surgery to remove a metal chopstick that remained lodged in his throat for eight years.
According to reports from a hospital case study published in March 2026, the man, identified only as Mr. Wang, accidentally swallowed the five inch utensil while eating dinner in 2018.
He reportedly visited a hospital shortly after the incident but refused surgery at the time because he did not want doctors to perform an operation through his neck.
As a result, he continued living with the object inside his throat for years despite ongoing discomfort.
Doctors said Wang later returned for treatment after recently experiencing increasing difficulty while swallowing food.
Medical staff at Dalian Municipal Central Hospital in Liaoning Province then carried out a minimally invasive procedure to remove the metal chopstick through his mouth.
A doctor involved in the operation, Huang Weipeng, said he was initially shocked after learning the object had been trapped there for eight years.
Hospital officials said the patient’s vocal cords and surrounding tissues were not seriously damaged and continued to function normally after the surgery.
Wang was discharged a few days later and is expected to make a full recovery.
The unusual case has drawn widespread attention online, with many expressing surprise that he was able to live for years with the object still lodged in his throat.
