ISTANBUL

In a world first, Chinese surgeons grafted a patient’s torn-off ear onto her foot as a temporary measure to save it before putting it back into place, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday.

According to the outlet, the woman’s ear was torn off in a workplace accident by heavy machinery that also ripped away a large part of her scalp, leaving her with life-threatening injuries.

The surgical team immediately tried to repair the scalp, said Qiu Shenqiang, deputy director at the microsurgery unit at the eastern Shandong provincial hospital in Jinan.

However, the accident had caused damage to her scalp tissue and vascular network, meaning that the ear could not be reattached until the tissue had healed, said Qiu.

Surgeons decided to graft the ear onto the top of her foot to keep the organ alive until it was ready to be reattached.

The decision was made because the arteries and veins in the foot were highly compatible with those of the ear, Qiu explained.

Over the course of five months, the woman’s scalp and neck healed with the help of skin transplants taken from her stomach.

In October, surgeons successfully performed a six-hour procedure putting her ear back in place.