A screenshot from a CT scan shows a dead eel in the colon tract of a man who inserted it into his rectum hoping to relieve his constipation. Photo: Kan Kan News

A man in South China's Guangdong Province almost lost his life after inserting a live eel into his rectum in the hope of relieving his constipation. 

The 50-year-old man in Dongguan, who has long suffered from constipation, had heard that an eel can help bowel movements, reported  the online news and video platform Kan Kan on Sunday. 

Instead of reliving the man's constipation, the 40cm-long eel perforated his digestive tract, causing severe bacterial contamination and a sigmoid colon rupture.

When he was admitted to the hospital, he had been experiencing abdominal distension for five days and septic shock. 

Doctors immediately performed a laparotomy that saved his life.

"If the operation hadn't been done soon, the possibility of death was very high," said the man's doctor. 

The eel was dead by the time it was removed during surgery. The man has already recovered. 

This isn't the first case of "fish sliding" inside a person's rectum. On June 2, an African carp was found in the stomach of a young man in Guangdong, who claimed that the fish slid into his rectum when he accidentally sat on it. 

Netizens on social media platform Sina Weibo poked fun at both men, saying that using eel to treat constipation is a much better excuse than the one the young man used. 

"In any case, may the fish rest in peace," commented a Weibo user.