Twenty-one patients have had to be treated by plastic surgeons at one Dublin hospital over the past three years as a result of having most or part of their ears bitten off.
The injuries were mostly sustained during assaults, but some were also as a result of sports accidents, sexual activity and road traffic accidents, according to a retrospective study.
The study, which looked at how the patients underwent reconstructive surgery at St James's Hospital between 2000 and 2003, was presented at an international conference for plastic surgeons in Dublin yesterday.
Twenty of the victims seen at the Department of Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery at St James's over the three-year period were male and one was female.
Fourteen sustained the injury to their left ear, seven to their right ear.
The research team noted that while reconstruction of ears following human bites is a difficult task, "requiring a good contour, size and colour match", excellent results can be achieved, with a third party unlikely to ever spot the fact that the ear had been bitten off in the first place.
The research was presented at the summer scientific meeting of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on St Stephen's Green.
It was carried out by Mr Ellanti Ramachandra Naidu, Mr Richard Hanson and Mr Rami Alnahhal.