A Chinese pensioner can finally sit in comfort after doctors removed a broken syringe needle which had been stuck in his bottom for 31 years.
Lao Du, 55, of Zhengzhou, said the needle was left in his rear by an 'amateurish' doctor in 1978, reports the Zhongyuan Network.
"I got a cold and went to see an amateurish doctor in my hometown village, but the needle broke off once it pierced my bum," he said.
"I was sent to a provincial hospital immediately. After being hospitalised for nine days, doctors checked me but failed to find the broken needle."
Lao Du said he always believed the broken needle was still in his bottom and four or five years ago he began to feel sharp pains regularly in his rear.
"Even walking has become a suffering to me," he said.
"I sought help from too many hospitals but none of them dared to do the surgery for me as they are not quite sure if they can find a tiny broken needle from 31 years ago."
Du tried his luck one last time at the Zhengzhou People's Hospital where doctors agreed to try to find the broken needle.
Chief surgeon Fu Konglong, who finally found the needle tip after three hours of surgery, said: "It was very detailed work. We had to look for it in every muscle fibre."
