Doctors in Canberra have removed a 10-centimetre fork from the penis of a 70-year-old man who inserted it into his uretha in an attempt to achieve sexual gratification.

The case is considered so unusual it was written-up by three doctors in the International Journal of Surgery Case Report last month.

According to the report the man presented at Canberra Hospital emergency department with a bleeding sexual organ.

Download the new Independent Premium app Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

The Canberra Times says he told doctors he had inserted the piece of cutlery into his urethra almost 12 hours earlier in an attempt to achieve sexual gratification, but the fork - perhaps unsurprisingly - became stuck.

Doctors were able to feel the fork from outside and remarkable x-ray images showed the utensil wedged into the man's penis.

Medics finally removed the item using forceps and "copious lubrication" while the patient was under a general anaesthetic.

The case appears in the International Journal of Surgery Case Report published last month and is entitled "An Unusual Urethral Foreign Body".

In the document medics remark that it was rare to see objects lodged in the lower urinary tract.

Doctors explained that they wrote up the case "given the great management challenge faced by the oddity and infrequency with which a fork is encountered in the penile urethra".

“It is apparent that the human mind is uninhibited let alone creative," they wrote.

“Autoerotic stimulation with the aid of self-inserted urethral foreign bodies has been existent since time immemorial and have presented an unusual but known presentation to urologists."

According to the Canberra Times the report lists other objects found in parts of other bodies including wire, Allen keys, toothbrushes, light bulbs, thermometers, plants, vegetables, leeches, snakes and glue.

The newspaper also notes that the report says many patients try to remove items that become stuck because of embarrassment.

Their own attempts to extract the objects often result in further injuries the paper notes.