Doctors were left speechless after discovering an acupuncture needle during an X-ray of a boy’s penis.
The medics made the painful discovery after they examined the 11-year-old patient who had been struggling to urinate.
Unable to explain the boy’s pain he was sent to Jiangxi Children’s Hospital in Jiangxi Province, central China for an X-ray.
Following the scan, doctors were shocked to find an 8cm needle had been inserted in his penis and pushed up his bladder tube, the Mirror said.
An X-ray photo shows the needle that was inserted from the urethra by a boy in Nanchang, China, undated. The needle was removed at Jiangxi Children’s Hospital
Following the scan, doctors were shocked to find an 8cm needle had been inserted in his penis and pushed up his bladder tube
After questioning the boy, he admitted inserting the needle into his urethra himself because ‘he was bored’ and wanted to discover if it was possible.
Chief medic, Rao Pinde, said the boy had inserted the needle 12 hours before he was seen making him unable to urinate.
When his penis became sore, he asked for help but did not admit what he had done – he was then rushed to surgery where the needle was removed through a non-invasive surgery using an endoscope which located the needle.
The boy was later allowed to go home after his surgery.
A X-Ray revealed that the 87mm sewing needle was positioned in the 10-year-old Iranian boy’s urethra in such a way that trying to pull it out could have caused further damage.
Last year a 10-year-old boy had a sewing needle the same length as a Twix removed through his penis after it got stuck in his urethra.
The unnamed child, from Iran, was taken to hospital after he shoved the 9cm-long object inside and struggled to get it out for more than three hours.
Doctors who treated the boy said he had pushed the needle into his urethra, which carries urine and semen, with the blunt end first.
It’s unclear why he did so but the medics noted a number of possible reasons including curiosity, pleasure or a brief psychological episode.
But they said he had no history of mental health issues.
The details of the circumstances around the incident, revealed in the journal Urology Case Reports, are scarce.