In an extraordinary medical case, surgeons in Jinan, eastern China, successfully restored a woman’s torn ear after temporarily attaching it to her foot. The woman, identified by her surname Sun, suffered a severe injury five months ago when her hair became caught in factory machinery. The accident tore skin from her scalp and neck and completely removed her left ear.
Sun was rushed to the hospital immediately after the incident, yet doctors soon learned that traditional reattachment surgery would not work. Dr Qiu Shenqiang, who led the medical team, explained that the blood vessels around the torn ear were “severely damaged,” leaving no way to reconnect them at the original site.
Çin'de bir kadın, iş kazasında kopan kulağını kaybetmemek için inanılmaz bir tedavi süreci yaşadı. Damarlar zarar gördüğü için kulağı hemen yerine dikilemedi.
Doktorlar bu yüzden sıra dışı bir yöntem kullandı:
Kadının sol kulağı, 5 ay boyunca ayağının üzerinde tutulup… pic.twitter.com/GsUq0GOqPc
— Mynet (@mynet) December 11, 2025Therefore, surgeons chose a rare microsurgical method known as heterotopic grafting. They attached the ear to the front of Sun’s right foot, where the skin is thinner, and the blood vessels are better able to support circulation. To protect the graft, physicians instructed her to avoid physical strain and to wear loose footwear throughout the healing phase.
Although heterotopic grafting is used in complex microsurgery, it is rarely employed in ear replantation. Nevertheless, Sun’s ear remained viable. After nearly five months of what doctors described as “parasitic growth,” surgeons at Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital were finally able to transplant the ear back to its natural position.
When the stitches came out, Sun reportedly became emotional and thanked the medical team for their dedicated work. Her recovery marks a rare success in reconstructive surgery and highlights the precision required in extreme trauma cases.
