A 25-year-old man from Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province swallowed an 11-centimeter-long, 2.5-centimeter-wide knife after an argument with his family, and waited a week before going to hospital, local media reported Thursday.

Nine doctors from a hospital in Shijiazhuang spent 27 minutes on Tuesday conducting an operation to remove the implement, which had rested in the man's stomach for a week, local newspaper Yanzhao Evening News reported. His name was not revealed by the newspaper.

The man had argued with his family over "trivial matters" on May 18, and had swallowed a knife to express his anger.

After a week of increasing pain and discomfort, he finally went to the hospital.

"The removal operation was very difficult as the knife … could have caused fatal injuries when being removed," said attending physician Han Zhanbo. "We failed twice before we finally succeeded."

Doctors found that the knife's blade was wrapped in sticky tape, which had helped stop it from slicing through his internal organs.

Yanzhao Evening News