India, Dec. 27 -- Chinese doctors have carried out what is believed to be the world's first successful operation in which a woman's torn off ear was temporarily grafted onto her foot before being reattached to her head.

The woman suffered catastrophic injuries in a workplace accident in April when heavy machinery tore away her ear along with a large portion of her scalp. Medical news social media account Yixue Jie, also known as Med J, reported the case, which was later cited by the South China Morning Post.

According to SCMP, Qiu Shenqiang, deputy director of the microsurgery unit at Shandong Provincial Hospital in Jinan, said the injuries were life threatening. The scalp, neck and facial skin had been torn and "split into multiple fra...