LINKOU, CHINA - A boy in China's north-eastern Heilongjiang province found himself in a knotty situation after inserting a USB cable into his genitals.

According to a report on Heilongjiang Metropolis Channel, the 13-year-old boy had cut off a USB head before inserting the cable into himself out of curiosity.

The boy was first taken to a local hospital on June 19 before being transferred to Harbin Children's Hospital for emergency treatment the next day.

Doctors said the cord reached as far as his bladder and had become knotted inside him. The boy also had blood in his urine.

Dr Xu Liyan, who treated the boy, said in Mandarin: "From the X-ray, we can see a dead knot hence he could not pull it out himself."

She said that the length of the cable inside the boy was about 10cm.

Before proceeding with the operation, doctors tried removing the cable with the aid of a lubricant but could not pull it out as the knot was too big.

During the operation, doctors cut off the point of the cable that was knotted before putting the cable out through his urethra.