Hanoi, Jan. 3, 2017 (dpa/NAN) A Vietnamese man is in a stable condition after doctors removed a pair of medical scissors that has been inside his abdomen for almost two decades, medical officials said on Tuesday.

Phi Thuc Oanh, a doctor and deputy director of Cast-Iron and Steel Hospital in Thai Nguyen Province, where the surgery occurred, told newsmen.

“The patient is in stable condition today.

“However, I am not sure when he can leave the hospital as it depends on his development in the coming days,’’ Oanh said, adding the patient underwent the surgery on Saturday.

Report says the scissors had been in the patient’s abdomen for 18 and half years, but he never noticed anything abnormal.

Ma Van Nhat, 54, went to hospital in December following a traffic accident.

While Nhat was not seriously injured in the crash, multiple ultrasound tests revealed the scissors, which had come to rest next to his colon.

According to reports, the scissors, which had become rusty, might have been left behind during the patient’s last surgery in June 1998.

However, the Ministry of Health has requested an investigation.