Timely intervention by doctors at a private hospital in the city helped re-implantation of four severed fingers of a 44-year-old woman.
The woman, Manjula, a resident of Kolar, accidentally injured her left hand in an electrical fodder cutting machine at around 11.30 a.m. on October 1. The accident resulted in complete amputation of her thumb, index, middle and ring fingers. In a 12-hour surgery, doctors at HOSMAT hospital where she was brought after first aid in Kolar, reconstructed her four fingers.
The surgery was successful as the patient was rushed to the hospital within four hours of the accident. The surgery was conducted by a team of doctors led by Thomas Chandy, Chairman and Chief of Orthopaedics at the hospital. The team comprised of Kannan Karuppiah Kumar, Hand and Microvascular Surgeon, Deepu N.K., Plastic and Microvascular Surgeon and Gautham Pate, Anesthesiologist.
“She arrived at our emergency department at 3 p.m. on Sunday within four hours of the injury. It is important to reach hospital within six hours in such accidents. The relatives had brought the amputated parts by wrapping them in a gauze piece and placing them in an ice box,” said Dr. Chandy.
“The amputated parts were first taken to the operating theatre and were inspected under the surgical microscope. The surgery was performed using a special operating microscope, which enlarges the tissues 10-20 times. The arteries of the fingers are the size of a thin cotton thread,” he said.
All severed arteries, veins, nerves and tendons were reconstructed and broken bones were fixed using surgical wires. The surgery that began at 4 p.m. on Sunday ended at 4 a.m. the next day. The patient will be discharged in a couple of days and can resume farming activities in about three months, the doctor added.
