- Chinese surgeons grafted a torn-off ear onto a patient's leg before reattaching it to her head
- The patient lost her ear and scalp in a workplace accident caused by heavy machinery in April
- Surgeons used the leg's arteries and veins, similar to the ear's, for the 10-hour initial graft
In a medical first, Chinese surgeons have successfully grafted a patient's torn-off ear onto her foot before putting it back in place. The woman, identified by her surname Sun, lost her ear and a large part of her scalp in a workplace accident in April, according to medical news account Yixue Jie (Med-J). The accident, caused by heavy machinery, left her with life-threatening injuries. Her scalp, neck, and facial skin were torn into multiple fragments, and her ear was completely severed along with the scalp, reported the South China Morning Post.
When she arrived at Jinan's Shandong Provincial Hospital, the Hand, Foot, and Reconstructive Microsurgery team immediately used standard methods to repair the scalp. However, due to severe damage to the scalp tissue and blood vessels, this attempt was unsuccessful, and it was impossible to reattach the ear until the scalp tissue had fully healed.
To keep the ear alive, the team, led by Qiu Shenqiang, deputy director of the microsurgery unit, decided to graft it onto the woman's upper leg. The leg's arteries and veins were compatible with those in the ear, and the skin and soft tissue of the leg were nearly identical to the thinness of the scalp, requiring minimal adjustment.
The initial grafting process took 10 hours. Qiu explained that connecting the ear's extremely fine blood vessels, which were only 0.2-0.3 millimeters thick, required advanced microsurgery skills.
Five days after the operation, the team faced another serious challenge when the ear turned purple-black due to blood circulation problems. To save it, the team used manual bloodletting techniques, which were performed approximately 500 times over five days. During this time, the patient's scalp was restored with skin grafts taken from her abdomen.
More than five months later, when the transplanted scalp and neck skin had fully healed and the swelling had subsided, the team successfully reattached the ear in October. This six-hour procedure set a new global record.
Sun has now returned home from the hospital, and her facial and tissue function have mostly recovered. She now has a few minor operations to undergo, including restoring her missing eyebrows and reducing scars on her leg.
