In China, a severed ear was saved by stitching it to the foot: how is this possible.

According to ТСН: In China, a woman suffered a serious ear injury during an accident at a factory. Doctors had to temporarily stitch her severed ear to her leg to keep it viable.

The woman, known by the surname Sun, sustained severe injuries when her hair got caught in a working mechanism. This resulted in the skin being torn from her head and neck, and her left ear was completely severed.

Temporary Transplantation

After emergency hospitalization, doctors found that regular stitching of the ear was impossible due to the severe injuries. The head of the treatment, Dr. Qiu Shenchang, explained that the blood vessels around the injured ear were greatly damaged, and some of them were only 0.2–0.3 millimeters in diameter.

To save the ear, surgeons decided to use an unusual method—temporarily sewing it to the right foot, where the skin is thinner and the vessels are better suited to ensure normal blood circulation.

This method is called heterotopic transplantation—it is used in microsurgery, although it is rarely applied for ear replantation.

Recovery

For several months, Sun took care of the transplanted organ, wore loose shoes, and limited physical activity to avoid damaging it. After five months of 'parasitic growth,' surgeons at Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital in Jinan were finally able to return the ear to its natural place. When the patient had her stitches removed, she couldn't hold back her tears and thanked the medical team for their hard and challenging work.

It is worth noting that similar methods are used when ordinary solutions are impossible and continue to develop in medicine. This shows how important it is to use innovative approaches to preserve patient health in complex situations.