Footage has emerged from China of the aftermath of a complex operation whereby a surgeon attached a severed hand to a man's leg in order to keep it 'alive'.

The video, filmed in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province last Wednesday, shows the man's hand stitched to his ankle. We also see him lying in hospital as well as x-rays of the initial injury.

The man, whose surname is quoted in reports as Sun, severely injured his hand while "he was working."

The injury restricted the amount of blood flowing to his hand for six hours before he got to hospital, so it was almost dead when he went into surgery.

However, doctors were able to attach the hand to his leg to essentially revive it, with the view to reattaching it to his wrist in three weeks time.