7/31/2006: Chinese face transplant (warning, graphic)

The point of this one, I remind folks, is not to enjoy the gruesomeness of it (although you CAN if you want, because ew! groosss!!), but to me it's more about what's medically possible and how that advances.

And IotD has picked up all the other face transplant items...

The man, named only as "Li", suffered his injuries in a bear attack in 2004. The "before" image on the left was taken April 13 2006; the "after", three days ago. (Oops, I mean July 28, 2006, for those Dwellars who prefer the datestamp time format)

I wonder how the Bear looked?

All I have to say is.. Ow.

Amazing that they can do this. I mean, sure, you can put stitches in around the border without too much trouble, but how do you get the underneath of the new face to stick to the muscles/skull of the guy's head? You can't just glue it on. Do they sort of roll it on, and stitch the underside of the skin to the muscle as they roll it on?

Amazing.

If this is the same story, I think this guy was mauled by bears as a result from trying to run them away by swatting them in the face with a stick. Stoopid.

This redefines 'talking outa the side of your face'. Owee!

If you're going for pretty, I'd say a face lift is a better option.

The complexity of reconstructing a face seems daunting., but I suppose there will come a time when they'll be able to make it almost undetectable.

Having a two tone beard might be a problem.... for non-Chinese.

Well there goes his big chance to star in "Phantom of the Peking Opera"