A man in south-east China had an eel removed from his body after allegedly putting it into his rectum.

The patient claimed to have experienced acute pain in his abdomen on the night of November 10 and had to rush to the hospital.

He remains under intensive care after surgeons removed the long fish during an operation.

Doctors performed surgery and took out an eel from the man, who was reported to be aged 40

A CT scan shows a snake-like object appearing inside a Chinese patient's abdominal area

According to local news website, Kan Kan News, the patient, said to be 40 years old, rushed to The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University in Jiangxi Province at around 8pm last Friday.

He was sent to the Emergency Room to run tests and scans by the doctors.

A CT scan showed a snake-like object trapped inside his abdominal area.

Doctors performed a surgical operation on the patient and successfully removed the object, later confirmed to be an eel.

Picture of the eel suggested it was longer than the surgical forceps.

It's believed that the eel had went in from the anus and swam up to his abdominal area

Kan Kan News said the man was staying in an intensive care unit on November 15.

However, he refused to explain how the eel had got into his body.

Doctors confirmed to the reporter that the eel had been inserted into the patient from the anus.

The patient is currently recovering.