Beijing  - Chinese doctors failed to find a 15-centimetre knife blade that was embedded in a woman's pelvis for four months after she was stabbed with the weapon, local media said on Thursday.

Shen Ping was stabbed in the hip during a robbery on May 6 in the eastern province of Jiangsu, the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported.

The handle apparently broke off the carving knife during the attack and left the entire blade embedded in Shen's pelvic cavity.

But doctors who examined her following the robbery failed to locate the blade, and when Shen went for further checks after complaining of pain she was told that she was probably suffering from a bladder infection.

Following an ultrsound scan, the blade was finally removed by surgeons at Shanghai's Anting Hospital on Tuesday, the newspaper said. (dpa)