Berhampur: A surgical team at the government-operated MKCG Medical College and Hospital successfully removed an eight-centimeter-long piece of a knife from the lungs of a 24-year-old man, as reported on Thursday.

The metallic fragment had been lodged in the man's body for three years following a stabbing incident.

Led by Sarada Prasanna Sahoo, an associate professor in the cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) department, the medical team performed a right thoracotomy on Santosh Das from Kabisurya Nagar on Tuesday to extract the sharp object.

According to Sahoo, the knife piece measured approximately eight centimeters in length, with a width of 2.5 centimeters and a thickness of 3 millimeters.

The patient is currently in stable condition and is being monitored in the intensive care unit (ICU), the doctor confirmed.

The knife fragment had entered his body during a stabbing incident in Bangalore three years ago, where he was attacked on the left side of his neck while working as a laborer. After receiving treatment in Bangalore, he had no health issues for nearly two years.

However, about a year ago, he began experiencing a dry cough and fever, which raised concerns about tuberculosis. He has since completed a nine-month course of treatment for the disease.

His family brought him to the medical college and hospital after he started coughing up blood, arriving on April 19.

An X-ray revealed the foreign object, which was later confirmed to be in his right lung through a CT scan and bronchoscopy, Sahoo explained.

The surgery involved a dedicated team of around eight doctors from the CTVS and anesthesia departments, along with nursing staff and paramedics, who successfully removed the sharp metal piece.

Surprisingly, the foreign object had not caused any damage to vital organs during its time in the body, despite its sharpness, Sahoo noted.