Doctors have successfully re-moved four sewing needles from the lung and near the heart of a Brazilian toddler, allegedly plunged into him by his stepfather during a month-long series of bizarre rituals.

The surgery lasted nearly five hours and the two-year-old boy was in stable condition after the procedure, said Susy Moreno, a spokeswoman for the hospital in the north-eastern city of Salvador where the boy was in intensive care.

"He's okay, the surgery was a success, he's doing fine," she said.

Dozens more needles measuring up to two inches in length are still inside the boy's body, but the four removed were considered the most threatening to his life.

Doctors will evaluate the boy's recovery from surgery before deciding when to perform at least two more surgeries to remove more needles, she said.

Police say the boy's stepfather, 30-year-old bricklayer Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, confessed to pushing supposedly 'blessed' sewing needles deep into the child because his lover told him to while in trances.