Stunned doctors found a man had been living with a large knife blade lodged in his chest for eight years.

 

The 44-year-old man went to hospital complaining of pus discharge below his right nipple.

 

His complaint it left medics baffled as he had no other symptoms. The unnamed patient reported no chest pain, difficulty breathing, cough or fever, and his vital signs were understood to be completely normal.

 

It left doctors stumped – and it wasn’t until the man recalled an incident which took place nearly a decade ago that they were able to put the pieces together.

 

During a “violent altercation”, he said he sustained multiple cuts to his face, back, chest, and abdomen, though doctors treated the wounds at the time.

 

Life had been “uneventful” since, according to the patient, until he noticed pus coming from below his nipple.

 

 

 

A chest radiograph was done after his complaint and it revealed the cause of his current ailment – a large knife blade lodged in the mid-thorax.

 

 

 

Doctors could see the knife had entered through the right scapula, and had managed to dodge any major organs.

 

 

The knife was carefully extracted during surgery, with the pus – caused by dead tissue – drained at the same time.

 

The man, who had no idea a knife had been lodged inside him for 8 years, stayed in the ICU for 24 hours before being transferred to the general ward, where he remained for 10 days while doctors monitored his condition.

 

The case, reported by the Journal of Surgical Case Reports last month, July 2025, shared that the patient – who was treated at Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania – recovered well and follow-up appointments were “uneventful”.