Man had stick in bowels for 25 years

LYCKSELE, Sweden, June 23 (UPI) -- A Swedish man who complained of stomach pains for 25 years was found to have a 2-inch wooden stick with sharp edges lodged in his bowels, doctors said.

Doctors say they suspect the object was left in the body of 65-year-old Ove Sohlberg after a surgical procedure for stomach ulcers 25 years ago, Swedish news agency TT reported Thursday.

"I have been admitted to hospital more than 100 times over the years for the pain," Sohlberg told the Vasterbottenskuriren newspaper in Lycksele.

"I felt like there was something in there and I was in constant pain," Sohlberg said

Last weekend, a surgical team finally found and removed the object, 2.3 inches long and resembling a toothpick with sharp edges, from Sohlberg's abdomen.

Sohlberg said he was relieved be rid of it after a quarter of a century of pain.

"But it seems a pity I had to live with it for so many years," he said.