A 10-centimeter nail was extracted from the lung of an elderly person in a hospital in eastern Turkey's Elazığ province Thursday.

The patient, Keko Ateş, aged 91, had approached doctors complaining of acute breathing problems. Murat Kılıç, a doctor in the Elazığ State Hospital, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they found the patient's breathing problem was due to a nail stuck in his lung. "We immediately operated on the patient and successfully removed the 10-centimeter [3.9 inch] nail," Kılıç said.

The nail had slipped into his lung after the patient had used it to clean the opening of the trachea in his neck. His larynx was removed 24 years ago because of laryngeal cancer.

The doctor said Ateş was breathing through an opening created in the neck, connected to the trachea. Kılıç stressed such a situation is rare but advised patients not to use foreign objects to scratch or clean their throats.