A complex surgery successfully conducted on a 7 year old girl Child to save her hand

Fortis Hospital, Noida performed a challenging and complex hand surgery on a girl child of 7 years of age. The surgical team was led by Dr. Atul Mishra, Additional Director and Dr. Abhishek Sharma, Chief Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgeon, Orthopaedics and Joints Replacements, Fortis Hospital, Noida.

The young girl, Priya Bhardwaj, was a victim of a gruesome accident which left her hand severed by a fodder cutting machine while playing at home in Aligarh. Her left hand was near totally chopped off at proximal palm level except for the thumb which was attached with a skin tag to the proximal part. A local hospital attended to the hand with first aid and she was rushed to Fortis hospital, Noida for further course of treatment.

The challenge for the team of doctors lay in putting the patient’s hand together as it demanded highest level of skill and expertise in re-joining tiny the arteries,  veins, nerves and tendons. After almost 12 hours of dedicated concentration, the doctors were able to reattached the severed hand successfully allayed the fears of the family and restore the confidence of the child in the medical fraternity.

Dr. Atul Mishra, Additional Director, Orthopaedics and Joints Replacements, Fortis Hospital, Noida said, “It was a case which required quick thinking as to the way forward in replanting the almost severed body part. It also meant skilful application of the expertise to make this successful. Of course, it will take another 2 to 3 months of extensive physical and psychological rehabilitation for the girl to regain complete function of her left hand. But we are sure of achieving what we have started.”

Dr. Abhishek Sharma, Chief Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgeon, Orthopaedics and Joints Replacements, Fortis Hospital, Noida, said, “Replantation is the best form of reconstruction which not only restore the same form but function as well after such devastating injury. In children the hand continues to grow, sensibility is usually good with useful function of hand is regained. The fingers and hand can be joined back upto 24 hours if properly preserved while more proximal levels of amputation have a more stringent time limit of around 12 hours because they have more muscles”

Mr. Gagan Sehgal, Zonal Director, Fortis Hospital, Noida said, “Our doctors have again and again risen to medical challenges thrown on them and emerged victorious in treating their patients to the satisfaction of the patients. In this case, the young girl and the family had probably lost hope of the survival of the hand when she was brought in. To see her eyes shine with a gratitude she could only feel towards the doctors after her hand as restored, that was the biggest form of award for us.”

Microsurgery is a form of surgery requiring an operating microscope. The upgraded developments have been procedures to allow anastomosis of successively smaller blood vessels and nerves (typically 1 mm in diameter) which have allowed transfer of tissue from one part of the body to another and re-attachment of severed parts. With the advent of microsurgery and the optimised level of skill and expertise that India offers, the doctors are able to save body parts from amputation.

Replantation is the reattachment of a completely detached body part. Fingers and thumbs are the most common but other body parts have also been replanted.

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