03/11/2025
Removing foreign objects from the Gl tract of an op**te addict!!
This 36 year-old prisoner and op**te addict deliberately swallowed random foreign objects to get hospitalized in order to get some morphine. He underwent surgery to remove multiple toothbrushes and toothpastes, razor handles, nail clipper, and other pieces of metal. It is not rare when prisoners swallow different subjects. Mostly they do such a thing to get operated. Main question is why? The answer is Morphine.
Morphine, like all Opioid pain relievers, works by binding to the opioid receptors in the brain, spine, and other organs of the body sensitive to pain. This interaction blocks pain and floods the body with dopamine. It is also a narcotic with many side effects that can lead to coma if taken excessively.
Like many prescription drugs, addiction to Morphine most often grows out of a need for the pain reliever. Typically, someone starts Morphine as a prescription. Overtime, that person will soon find that it doesn't provide as much relief over time. This means that their body is building a tolerance to the opioid and could lead to them upping their dose.
This person was in prison and could do anything to get a dose of the drug, so he decided to consume multiple foreign objects to get operated and eventually get morphine in the hospital.
The swallowed toothbrushes were found in the esophagus and the stomach of this patient.
This wasn't his first episode and before this one he swallowed a full set of domino tiles. Sometimes they swallow plastic forks and spoons but mostly surgeons are able to get the objects out with endoscopy.
Fortunately, this patient was successfully managed using exploratory laparotomy and is now stable and recovering.