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Indian plastic surgeons performed a rare surgery in which a 22-year old-man's hand was successfully replaced after being severed in an accident at a sawmill.
Rauf from Nadamalpoyil, Kozhikode lost his palm in an accident that occurred at a sawmill in Manipuram in southern India on October 5. A bull had broken free and was running through the streets and charged Rauf from behind, who spotted it and ran into the sawmill, severing his left hand after he fell over.
Rauf and his severed hand were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where a plastic surgery team lead by a Dr Krishnakumar successfully replaced the severed palm in a 12-hour long 2-stage surgery.
The first surgery, which took more than 7 hours, re-attached his minute blood vessels and bones. 3 days later, in a 5-hour-long second stage surgery, the doctors were able to reconstruct his nerves and muscles.
Rauf left hospital after four days and his hands have regained 90 percent of their functionality. It is believed with physiotherapy in the next two to three months, he will be able to regain full functionality of his hand.
Dr Krishnakumar, who led the surgery pointed out that: “In this case, it was the presence of mind displayed by Rauf’s colleagues who brought the sliced off palm in a bag of ice that was crucial to the patient’s recovery.”