Doctors grew a nose on a Chinese man's forehead using other parts of his body according to The Huffington Post.
"We have gone through the hardest step and now it is not difficult to carry out transplant surgery," Guo Zhihui, Director of Plastic Surgery Department of Xiehe Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University told reporters.
The patient, 22, who goes by the nickname Xiaolian, suffered severe nasal trauma in a serious car accident last August.
According to ABC News, surgeons at the Xiehe hospital grew the new nose by placing tissue extenders underneath Xiaolian's forehead. The material was then cut into the shape of a nose. Cartilage from his rib was then put on the tissue the New York Post reported.
Now that the nose has grown, doctors will now take the new body part from the patient's forehead and put it on his nasal spot. It took nine months for Xiaolian's nose to fully form and is now in good condition for doctors to complete the process.
Xiolian opted for basic treatment other than going for plastic surgery after his accident because he was concerned about his finances. The decision ultimately led to an infection of his nose. Xiaolian's nasal cartilage became corroded and kept surgeons from reconstructing his nasal area.
The procedure is the first in the world.
"I would call it a different take on a principles that we commonly use in reconstruction," Dr. David Cangello, attending plastic surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital and Manhattan, Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital in New York told Live Science. "We typically take the cartilage from the rib, and we put it right where the nose structure would already be, and we bring the skin flap over it and cover it."
