A 29-year-old prisoner was admitted to hospital after he swallowed a mobile phone.

The man presented to the Emergency Department at Tallaght hospital with vomiting, ten hours after he claimed to have swallowed the device.

He had been vomiting for four hours before he presented to the hospital

After various examinations and x-rays, doctors confirmed that the phone was in his stomach, and he had to undergo surgery for it to be removed.

The phone measured 68×23×11 mm, around as tall as an adult's middle finger.

Doctors' attempts to remove the foreign body using graspers and tripod forceps were abandoned because the phone could not be aligned to allow for safe retrieval and limit any potential harm to the oesophagus.

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The phone was eventually removed during a gastrotomy, using a type of forceps.

The patient, who had complex psycho-social issues, made a recovery and underwent counselling before he was discharged.

The case, and images of the alarming case, have featured in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports.

Expand Close Photo: The Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin / Facebook

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Whatsapp Photo: The Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin

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