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Originally reported as a pair of rusty scissors, doctors removed a surgical clamp from a Vietnamese man's stomach 18 years after his surgery.

Ma Van Nhat, 54 years old, went under the knife on December 31 at Cast-Iron and Steel Hospital in Thai Nguyen Province after specialists from Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi were asked to assist with the procedure.

Nhat complained of stomach ache and on December 27, he underwent ultrasonography (ultrasound) to determine the root cause of the pain. Doctors were surprised to see a pair of a rusty surgical clamp in the man's stomach, where he had a surgery almost two decades ago.

The 6-inch (15-centimeter) clamp, which was first reported as a pair of scissors, was lodged near his colon.

Tuoi Tre News reports that the handles of the surgical tool had become rusty and some of the organs had stuck to it.

An Accident Led To The Discovery

Nhat had not felt anything strange over the past years and said he had not visited a doctor for any problem related to the lodged clamp in his stomach. In fact, it was a blessing in disguise when he got into a road accident in December when he was brought to the hospital for a medical consultation.

It was in 1998 when he underwent an operation at Bac Kan General Hospital. He claimed that he never had any other proceudre ever since. Recently, he also felt pain in his abdominal area but only tried to treat it with medicines.

The Ministry of Health has initiated an investigation on the incident but said hospitals tend to file patient records for only 15 years. Thus, it will be hard to determine who is to blame for the bizarre medical case.

"We are trying to find out who was in the operation crew, and even if they are already retired, we will still inform them about the incident that took place during their career," Trinh Thi Luong, hospital director of Bac Kan General Hospital, said as reported by Global News.

"This is a lesson to all doctors, especially to surgeons who are working with surgical equipment, this is a valuable experience," Luong added.