A six-year-old boy has had a 15-centimetre long stick used while eating sausages that impaled him through his throat removed after it was jammed so far in that it almost emerged from the back of his head.

Family members rushed the boy to the Xi’an Children’s Hospital in the city of Xi’an in the Chinese province of Shaanxi after 11 centimetres of the 15-centimetre stick pierced his mouth and throat.

Relatives explained that the young lad fell over while eating a skewered grilled sausage.

Hospital neurosurgeon Mi Weiyang said: “The child had an expression of intense pain when he arrived. He dared not move and a piece of bamboo stick was exposed. The situation was very dangerous.”

The doctor explained that the boy could not move his mouth otherwise the stick could have punctured surround blood vessels and cause haemorrhaging, even potentially piercing his spinal cord and risking paralysis.

That night, the neurosurgeon consulted with experts from other departments and worked out an operation plan.

According to the news site Baidu, the stick was removed after over an hour of intensive surgery.

The director of Neurosurgery Shi Hangyu said he successfully removed the obstruction and that the child is now in a stable condition.

The young patient remains in hospital under observation and doctors reminded parents to keep an eye on their children as accidents involving bamboo sticks and chopsticks happen every year.