Surgeons fix severed hand

Four months after Bhigwan resident Sunil Deshmane (43) underwent a gruelling nine-hour-long surgery to fix his hand that got accidentally severed in February while he was on-duty at the paper factory where he worked, he is now able to move his hand and perform minor tasks.u00a0

The team of surgeons that operated upon Deshmane said that his hand would function normally in a year's time and gave credit to the teamwork and modern technology for the successful operation.

Narrating the events of that fateful day, when the accident occurred, Deshmane said, "It was last day of the month and as usual I switched on the paper cutting machine. Within minutes my hand after was severed into two. I couldn't understand what was happening. All I could remember was blood oozing out from my hand. Someone from office rushed me to the rural hospital along with the sliced appendage."

Upon examining Deshmane, the doctors at the rural hospital immediately decided to him to Pune and doctors at the Noble Hospital about his condition.

Dr Ajay Throat, orthopaedic surgeon at the Noble Hospital, said, "I got call from the doctors at the rural hospital about the incident and the patient's condition. Based on their briefing, we prepared ourselves. Upon inquiry, the doctor said that he had disinfected the injured arm and had packed the other half in the icebox and had despatched it along with the patient. This was the most important procedure that helped us reattach Deshmane's hand."u00a0

A team comprising orthopaedic and plastic surgeons and anaesthetist started working on re-attaching Deshmane's arm. The first hurdle of giving anaesthesia safely crossed by anaesthesia department head Dr H K Sale and Dr Pallavi Butiyani, who administered Deshmane with brachial plexus nerve block (continuous supply of anaesthesia after fixed period through a saline-like system) rather than giving general anaesthesia. This helped improve and maintain a good blood flow containing intra-operatively and post-operatively for achieving best results.

Later, orthopaedic surgeon and hand expert Dr Sachin Karkamkar and Dr Shailesh Patil joined the fixed bones with the use of K wire (stainless
steel pins used for fixating bones).

Then plastic surgeons Dr Rajendra Gandhi and Dr Abhishek Ghosh took over and initiated the tedious procedure of identified each tissue, tendon and blood vessel and suturing it. Microscopy and micro vascular instruments were used for accurate repair. The surgery lasted for nine hours
"After four months of observation and considering the improvement, we have termed the surgery successful. Deshmane was placed in hospital for two weeks followed by physiotherapy sessions. The entire hand will recover in a one-and-a-half year," Thorat said.u00a0