Youth’s chopped hand reattached in 12 hours

BENGALURU: His hand was severed from the forearm in a road accident at Mulabagal, Kolar district. Within 12 hours, doctors in Bengaluru reattached 24-year-old Praveen’s hand with a reconstructive surgery.
The Mulbagal youth was riding his two-wheeler when a four-wheeler hit him on July 9, leaving him with grievous injuries, including a right hand severed at the wrist. Praveen was brought to Hosmat Hospital in 4 hours and 15 minutes; his severed hand was in a plastic cover covered by ice pack.What followed was an eighthour surgery during which the hand was replanted.
As Praveen’s right leg was crushed below the knee, it was amputated on July 10 and the broken thigh bone fixed using external fixation.
Dr Thomas Chandy, chief of orthopaedics, said what proved crucial was the fact that the patient reached the hospital on time and his severed hand wrapped in the right way.
“We used a special operative microscope; tendons, arteries, veins, nerves and muscles were reconstructed and broken bones fixed using plates and screws,” Dr Deepu NK, plastic surgeon, said.
Praveen, who works a supervisor in a hatchery, is recovering in ICU; his condition is said to be stable.