Chinese doctors grow new nose on patient’s forehead

TORONTO – Doctors in China have “grown” a nose onto a man’s forehead after he damaged his original nose in a car accident.

The 22-year-old patient, nicknamed “Xiaolian” according to reports, suffered from severe nasal trauma following a car accident in 2012.

At the time, he received basic medical treatment and an infection corroded the cartilage of his nose, ruling out reconstructive surgery.

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Local media in China report that doctors used skin and cartilage from the patient’s ribs to create the second nose. This is the first time the medical procedure has been tried in the world.

“We have gone through the hardest step and now it is not difficult to carry out transplant surgery,” Guo Zhihui, director of plastic surgery at the Xiqhe Hospital said, according to reports.

The doctors plan to implant the nose soon. It had grown for about nine months and is in “good shape” for the procedure.