Doctors have performed an extraordinary operation to save a man’s severed hand by attaching it to his leg.
The man’s hand was successfully grafted back on to his wrists after a month, when the nerves and tendons had healed from the trauma.
The rare operation was performed at a hospital in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province in central China.
A man whose left hand was severed in a work accident had it attached to his leg for a month. This was done to provide the hand with a flow of blood to keep it alive until the nerves and tendons in his wrists healed
It happened after a factory worker called Zhou had his left hand chopped off during a work accident involving a spinning blade machine.
He was rushed to the Xiangya Hospital in Changsha where doctors assessed his situation.
Dr Tang Juyu, head of microsurgery at the hospital, decided he could give Zhou a chance to ‘revive’ his lost hand – with an operation he and his team had already successfully performed once in 2013 under similar circumstances.
Because both Zhou’s arm and severed hand were badly wounded following the accident, doctors were unable to attach it right away, opting instead to allow the nerves and tendons to heal with time.
This meant Dr Tang and his team decided to graft Zhou’s left hand to his right ankle.
Dr Tang explained: ‘Under normal temperatures, a severed finger needs to resume blood supply within 10 hours, but that time is even shorter for a separated limb.
‘If a limb is short of blood for too long, its tissues die and it will be unsalvageable.’
After succesful surgery to reattach the hand (pictured), Zhou is now able to move his fingers slightly. In time it is hoped he will regain full function of his hand
Mr Zhou’s hand was kept ‘alive’ and left to heal while attached to his ankle for more than one month.
Then Dr Tang and his team have now successfully reattached it to his arm in a 10-hour surgery.
According to the Dr Tang, Zhou is now able to move his fingers slightly, but he will still need much rehabilitation before regaining full use of his hand.
The story comes after MailOnline reported on the story of Xiao Wei, whose right hand was severed due to an accident at work.
On November 10 2013, doctors at a hospital in Changde, also in the Hunan province, successfully reattached the man’s hand after it was attached to his ankle for a month.
Source: Mail Online
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