A woman in the North had a plastic pill packet lodged in her throat for 17 days before it was taken out, doctors have revealed.

The woman in her 40s swallowed the packet in the middle of the night without realising, according to details published in BMJ Journals.

She initially attended an A&E department, complaining of a "foreign body sensation" and swallowing difficulties after taking her tablets.

Doctors initially believed she had suffered cuts to her throat while swallowing her tablets as normal, and they treated her with steroids.

However, she soon returned to hospital complaining of ongoing symptoms.

The lodged packet was only discovered after four separate visits to Craigavon Area hospital and Belfast's Royal Victoria.

According to the authors of the article, a test "revealed she had swallowed her [...] tablets whole in the original foil packet, which was lodged in the upper oesophagus".

The packet was removed and she was ultimately discharged from hospital after observation.

In a quote carried by the journal, the patient said: "I had no idea I swallowed this!

"It was a very frightening three weeks and I couldn't believe when I saw the picture. Thank you for all your help."