Christa Pike discharged from hospital and returned to prison, her lawyers say

US death row inmate Christa Pike has been discharged from hospital following her botched execution at the end of last month, her lawyers have said.

Pike, 50, has been sent back to the prison where she has spent the last 30 years and is continuing to receive medical care, according to a statement from her lawyers on Saturday.

She survived two lethal injections of the drug pentobarbital on 30 September, which left her in a critical condition.

Pike regained consciousness earlier this week and began speaking - stunning experts, medical staff and her lawyers.

Her case is now in uncharted territory as she is thought to be the only person to have survived an execution attempt by lethal injection.

Pike's lawyers said in their statement that she was "grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances".

It is unclear what medical care Pike is receiving now that she is back in prison but her lawyers previously said she faced a "long road to recovery".

The Tennessee Department of Correction is yet to say why the execution did not go as planned, though it has defended the method it used.