Max Super Speciality Hospital, Dehradun, in Uttarakhand successfully reattached a completely amputated finger of a 17-year old girl by performing a nine-hour long marathon surgery.
The girl succumbed to the injury while she was working on a washing machine when suddenly her right hand got caught in it and the index finger got severely injured. On examining, the doctors at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Dehradun found that the finger was severely damaged due to avulsion injury (twisting force) and was totally amputated and came out through a joint with significant damage to the fragile blood vessels, nerves, tendons and skin.
There was no blood supply to the finger and therefore the need for re-plantation of the amputated finger, that involved joining the slender arteries, veins and functional nerves, which had to be done as early as possible for the amputated part to survive.
Dr Vipin Barthwal, Plastic, Reconstructive and Microvascular Surgeon along with a team of anaesthetists, worked relentlessly for over nine hours to re-establish all the vital parts of the finger such as bones, tendons, nerves, arteries and veins. Taking about the surgery, Dr Barthwal, said that these kinds of surgeries were quite complex in nature since any significant delay in restoring blood supply could result in irreversible damage and permanent death of the amputated part.
In case of a clean cut by a sharp knife or blade, the chances of finger surviving after re-implantation was as high as 80-90 per cent, if the blood circulation was restored within time, said Dr Barthwal adding whereas in this case the damage to the tissues was extensive and chances of success were as bleak as 20-30 per cent.
Gaurav Rekhi, General Manager, Operations at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Dehradun, said that our experienced doctors team specialized in aesthetic, reconstructive and microsurgical procedures, has successfully treated cases of similar nature in the last 8 months in the hospital.