Pencil extracted from Afghan man's head
- Published
A scan revealed the pencil's location so that doctors could operate
German doctors say an Afghan man who for years suffered from headaches, a runny nose and eyesight problems was found to have a 10-centimetre (four-inch) pencil lodged in his head.
Surgeons at Aachen University Hospital removed the pencil and the 24-year-old is reported to be recovering.
The pencil had injured the man's sinuses and right eye socket.
When asked how the pencil had got there he recalled that as a boy he had once fallen and had a serious nosebleed.
The case was presented at a medical conference in Essen on Tuesday by Prof Frank Hoelzle of Aachen University.
The pencil was found only after a detailed medical examination using computer tomography - an image scanning technique, German media report.