China: Facial surgery for 'elephants'

After nearly 8 hours of surgery, on 11-12 Chinese doctors removed 22 tumors on the face of Mr. Ou Guifeng (22 years old, from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), who is known for his nickname. ' elephant people ' because the face has large tumors.

Doctors at Shanghai People's Hospital No. 9 said it was a necessary surgical round for patients. The surgery started at 8:30 am and lasted until noon. 7 doctors have removed many large tumors from Ou's forehead, cheeks, nose and jaw.

' The surgery was quite successful, ' said surgical leader Li Qingfeng. According to Li, the biggest challenge for doctors is to prevent massive bleeding and avoid hurting any nervous system within these tumors.

Ou started to bring a small lump on his left cheek 2. When the size and number of tumors on his face increased, he almost blinded one right eye. Doctors say these large tumors are caused by a disease that comes from genes and can only be treated with surgery.

Last May, Chinese-American painter Gao Jianwu heard about Ou's miserable life on a trip to Guangxi. He launched overseas Chinese people to help Ou with medical treatment.

Mr. Ou Guifeng before surgery (Photo: TTO)

His first surgery was performed at Guilin People's Hospital in Guangxi on June 29. However, the surgery had to be halted because Ou had a lot of bleeding. Shanghai No. 9 People's Hospital has prepared 4 liters of blood for the surgery yesterday to avoid similar problems. However, they only have to use about 1 liter of blood.

According to doctors, they can operate Ou's right eye to the right position without damaging the optic nerve, so they are very optimistic about the possibility that his right eye will see again.

WALL VY