Sassoon Hospital doctors fix youth’s severed hand

The right hand of the man was severed at the proximal level and the avulsion injury and delay of six hours made the case challenging, said doctors

In a rare feat, doctors at Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) and BJ Medical College (BJMC) attached the hand of a 22-year-old man that was severed after it got stuck inside a dough kneading machine in a seven-hour-long surgery, said the officials on Saturday.

Currently after fifteen days post-replantation surgery, the patient has his surviving right hand. (HT FILE)

The incident happened on May 23 at around 6 am in Baramati and the victim was taken to the government medical college in Baramati. Later he was shifted to the BJMC and SGH for the surgical management.

The right hand of the man was severed at the proximal level and the avulsion injury and delay of six hours made the case challenging, said doctors.

The team included— Dr Parag Sahasrabudhe, head of plastic surgery department; Dr Nikhil Panse, Prof. of plastic surgery; Dr Ankur Karanjkar, Dr Piyush Bamnodkar, Dr Aditya Marathe, Dr Ranjit Patil, Dr Kaushik Das, Dr Pratik Pal and Dr Sujit Kshirsagar.

Explaining the challenges, Dr Sahasrabudhe, informed it was a case of avulsion injury resulting in the avulsion of muscles of the forearm from its origin and nerves from the armpit.

“The avulsion type of amputation and the patient’s delayed presentation after critical ischemia time of six hours after the accident posed daunting odds,” he said.

Critical ischemia is defined as the maximal period of ischemia that a given tissue can withstand and still remain viable after resumption of vascular flow.

“The delay increases the risk of damage to kidneys, liver and other organs with eminent risk of even death due to reperfusion injury (entry of toxins from dead tissue into the blood). Despite daunting odds, the Sassoon team attempted replantation surgery after explaining the risks involved and obtaining consent from the patient and his relatives,” said Dr Sahasrabudhe.

Dr Chandrakant Mhaske, dean of BJMC, said, “Utilizing innovative techniques, the patient underwent a special form of anaesthesia - thanks to ultrasound-guided nerve blocks the patient remained awake yet devoid of sensations in his right upper limb.”

Currently after fifteen days post-replantation surgery, the patient has his surviving right hand.

He is undergoing daily dressings and antibiotic treatment and plans are in place for future procedures to enhance the hand’s functionality, informed the officials.