Doctors in China have successfully removed an artificial ear that had been growing on a man's arm for three months and transplanted it onto his head.

Mr Ji, whose first name and age have not been released, lost his right ear in a 2015 road accident in China's Shanxi Province which left him with serious facial injuries on his right side.

Surgeons performed multiple operations to restore his cheeks and facial skin but they were unable to reattach his ear.

So plastic surgeon Dr Guo Shuzong stretched Mr Ji's arm skin using an expander and then took cartilage from his ribs, cut in the shape of his ear, which he then placed under the forearm skin flap.

"The accident not only took his ear, but also destroyed most of the blood vessels and skin around the ear. Therefore, conventional artificial ears cannot work for him. We decided to grow a new ear on his arm in advance," Dr Shuzong told the Mirror .

On Wednesday, Dr Shuzong successfully carried out the our-long surgery in which the man's new ear was transplanted from his forearm to his head.