Orthopaedic surgeon Meher Prasanna, plastic surgeon A Ravi Kumar and anaesthetist Lakshmi Narayana, in a difficult surgery were able to rejoin the hand of an 18-year-old patient, whose left hand was totally cut-off just above the wrist in an accident which occurred while he was cleaning a cutting machine.
Speaking to the media persons here on Saturday, Dr. Meher Prasanna said the team of doctors applied pressure dressing to the patient’s bleeding end of the hand. The severed part of the hand that was brought in a plastic bag had to be cleaned first. “We wrapped it in a sterile plastic cover and placed it in an ice pack to prevent autolysis or cell destruction for re-implantation. Four units of compatible blood were kept ready. After a marathon 10-hour surgery, the hand was rejoined,” he said.
Dr. Prasanna said the hand was replanted with a very stable bone fixation, good vascular anastamosis, nerve repair and flexor tendon repair. “The post operative period was uneventful and the hand survived with good blood flow. In the second stage, the patient’s extensor tendons were repaired. After four weeks of post surgery, the patient is undergoing physiotherapy to regain full functioning of the hand,” he explained.
