In a first-of-its-kind case that presented multiple challenges, after a rare and challenging three-hour surgery, doctors at the AIIMS Delhi successfully removed a 20-cm-long kitchen knife from a man's liver who had bizarrely swallowed it in a fit of psychosis.

The 28-year-old man had reportedly swallowed the knife a month-and-a-half ago and continued living his life normally till he started experiencing loss of appetite and abdominal pain. His family remained unaware of what he had done till the doctors did an X-ray scan.

The three-hour-long life-saving surgery to remove the knife, which was fully lodged in the liver, was performed under the supervision of surgeon Dr NR Das from the Department of Gastroenterology.The man, a daily wage worker from Palwal in Haryana, has a history of psychosis and had a habit of smoking cannabis.The patient's condition is now stable.