The bar was removed and the patient recovered.

Gussenbauer gives an account of a juggler who turned his head to bow an acknowledgment of applause while swallowing a sword; he thus brought his upper incisors against the sword, which broke off and slipped into his stomach.

To relieve suffocation the sword was pushed further down.
Gastrotomy was performed, and the piece of sword 11 inches long was extracted; as there was perforation of the stomach before the operation, the patient died of peritonitis.
An hour after ingestion, Bernays of St.Louis successfully removed a knife 9 1/2 inches long.

By means of an army-bullet forceps the knife was extracted easily through an incision 5/8 inch long in the walls of the stomach.

Gross speaks of a man of thirty who was in the habit of giving exhibitions of sword-swallowing in public houses, and who injured his esophagus to such an extent as to cause abscess and death.
In the Journal of the American Medical Association, March 1, 1896, there is an extensive list of gastrotomies performed for the removal of knives and other foreign bodies, from the seventeenth century to the present time.
The physiologic explanation of sword-swallowing is quite interesting.
We know that when we introduce the finger, a spoon, brush, etc., into the throat of a patient, we cause extremely disagreeable symptoms.
There is nausea, gagging, and considerable hindrance with the function of respiration.