Doctors at Shanghai's Zhongshan Hospital carried out a bizarre procedure: removing a 9-inch (23-centimeter) dildo from a 30-year-old man's intestines, where the sex toy was lodged for five days.
Doctor Yao Liqing, one of the team behind a withdrawal that required an endoscope, explained: "If we did not remove the dildo in time, the man could have gone into critical condition.
We were astonished to see such a big item needing to be taken out of a patient's body."
The dildo had blocked the large intestine and caused tissue damage, he added, and doctors were contemplating surgery if the procedure had failed.
Shops selling sex toys are common in Chinese cities as greater sexual freedom and a consumer culture takes hold.
But "people must use sex toys properly and avoid ones that are too big as they can hurt," Yao warned
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