A woman was shocked to come home from a nose job to find that part of her ear had also been removed, with the hospital later admitting it had been used for the rhinoplasty procedure.
The 31-year-old woman, identified only by her surname Zhao, said the unexpected change to her ear not only looks unsightly, it also meant her wireless headphones no longer fit.
Zhao had the nose surgery carried out at the Angel Wing Hospital - located in the city of Chengdu, in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan - on 1 September.
Chinese news site The Paper reports that she had had a nose job five years ago but decided to get another, along with an arm liposuction surgery, costing her round CNY 50,000 (£5,700 / $7,530).
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After the op - which reportedly lasted from 9am until the early afternoon - Zhao said she felt good and didn't notice anything unusual.
Four days later, however, it dawned on her that her ear didn't feel quite the same.
It was then that Zhao realised something was missing: her tragus, the small pointed part on the inner side of the external ear.
Zhao said she couldn't believe that the doctor would remove her tragus during the surgery without her knowledge or consent, telling local media that it's not something that was specified beforehand, and that she had expected the doctor to use cartilage from behind her ear.
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She contacted the hospital's customer service team and sent them photos of her ear.
A representative reportedly then responded to claim that this is a normal procedure, and that the removal of the ear cartilage from the back of the auricle can cause ear atrophy - meaning experienced doctors will take cartilage from the tragus instead.
However, Zhao said she had consulted many doctors in other plastic surgery hospitals, who confirmed that cartilage from behind the ear is most commonly used for rhinoplasty, as it doesn't affect the appearance or the physiological functions of the ear.
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The vice president of the hospital's administration, Yuan, told local media that Zhao had given her informed consent by signing an agreement before the surgery.
Yuan said this stated that 'cartilage rhinoplasty' would be used, which included the whole ear.
Zhao said she is now unable to use headphones for her right ear, and feels embarrassed by its appearance.
She has now demanded a full refund, compensation and plastic surgery to repair the ear from the hospital.
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According to The Paper, the hospital has allegedly refused to fulfil her request, and there have reportedly been various episodes of conflict - resulting in the police being called to intervene.
Featured Image Credit: NewsflashTopics: World News, News, Weird, China, Plastic Surgery