A 56-year-old man from Rajasthan walked in Jagjivan Ram Hospital, Mumbai, eight days ago with the complaint of facing difficulty in swallowing. Little did the doctors at the hospital knew that his complain was not due to any health reasons, but due to approximately 40 pins inserted into his neck area.
Puzzled with this case, the doctors at the Jagjivan Ram Hospital are trying their best to solve the mystery of how these pins entered not only his throat and neck area, but also in his arms and legs. It is a unique case, which could well be termed as a first-of-its-kind in the medical history.
Badrilal, who lives in Mahipura Basti in Bundi tehsil of Rajasthan, works as a valveman with Western Railway and releases water for trains.
With no memory of how and when pins entered his body, he has become one of the most talked about patients in the hospital. According to the x-ray reports, there are visibly 75 pins in his body, which has earned him the name, ‘pinned man’. Badrilal was referred to the Mumbai hospital by a hospital in Kota, Rajasthan.
Speaking to My Medical Mantra, Dr Sachin Nikam, General Medicine Department, Jagjivan Ram Hospital, said, “When he came to us, he was looking pale and we asked him several questions, but he didn’t answer. As a routine procedure, we did X-ray to find out what the cause of his swallowing difficulty would be.”
But, the X-ray reports left Dr Nikam aghast as he could not believe what the reports were presenting.
“I wondered how this could even be possible,” said Dr Nikam.
After the neck X-ray, doctors tried to enquire with Badrilal on how the pins entered his body, but to no avail. Suspicious of Badrilal’s condition, the doctors asked him to get a full body X-ray done.
“The full body X-ray including his neck, upper-chest, both arms and legs stunned me as this was something which I had never seen or even heard in my entire medical profession. He had pins inserted in the arms, upper-chest and legs,” said Dr Nikam.
Doctors who are treating Badrilal say that though a huge chunk of pins is in his body, there is no severe wound to his vital organs as they all are intact.
There are approximately 75 odd pins which have been inserted and they are about 0.5 to 1cm deep inside his body.
Prima facie, doctors say the pins may have been inserted long time ago as there is no fresh wound visible on his body. There are scar marks on the surface, but the wounds which were caused while inserting the pins, have healed.
“We have questioned him and his family several times about his condition, but they say they are unaware about how this could have happened. Inserting a pin like this when a person is conscious is not possible. Someone must have sedated him while doing this,” added Dr Nikam.
Badrilal, who has been put on liquid diet, is fast losing weight as he has not eaten.
Doctors say the pins in his body can be removed only with a surgical procedure, for which they are seeking opinion from ENT and chest specialist.
But, the pinned man remains a subject of wonder as the doctors have not seen or heard a case like this before and to remove pins from his body remains a big challenge for them.
Number of pins
- Approximately 75 pins inserted in his body
- 40 in neck and upper-chest
- 25 in his right leg
- 2 each in right and left arm
According to me and my psychiatrist husband Dr Rajendra Sarda, this man must be having long standing psychosis and mental retardation. He must be eating these puns, so 40 are there in neck and throat.
Most of the pins have no head (bulging at one end).