A 67-year-old man surnamed Deng from Chengdu, China’s Sichuan Province, began experiencing abdominal bloating and pain a month ago, but initially shrugged it off as symptoms of gastroenteritis. He only went to the hospital after realizing that medication and diet changes weren’t helping at all. His condition had worsened to the point where he couldn’t lie down without experiencing excruciating pain.

After performing an emergency gastroscopy, doctors noticed a strange, smooth, blackened cuboid corroded by stomach acid deep in the man’s stomach. However, attempts to remove it failed due to its smooth, slippery exterior. The medical team decided to postpone the removal of the object so they could investigate its nature and origin.

When asked if he had any idea what the small, rectangular object in his stomach might be, Deng remembered an incident in the early 1990s, when, during a night of drinking with some friends, he swallowed a plastic lighter as a dare. He had never told his family about it and always imagined the lighter had passed through his system long ago. Looking back, he recalled experiencing stomach pain for no apparent reason, but he had never imagined it could be caused by the lighter he had swallowed all those years ago.

After confirming the foreign object was a cigarette lighter, the medical team assessed the best removal method. Surgery was deemed too invasive, but regular endoscopy also had a low chance of success due to the smooth texture of the lighter. In the end, the team opted for a “condom-like” technique, completely encasing the foreign object before pulling it out.

Although the lighter’s casing had been corroded and blackened by stomach acid, it still had gas inside, and doctors were shocked to find that it still worked. They explained that common lighter casings are made of polypropylene or ABS plastic, which are highly acid-resistant, thus able to resist stomach acid corrosion for a long time.

We’ve previously written about a man who lived with a metal spoon stuck in his esophagus for a year, and another guy who lived with a mobile phone in his stomach for six months, but 30 years sounds like such a long time.