AP doctors re-attach severed arm in 8-hour surgery

The trauma team at Prime Hospitals here, led by plastic surgeon Dr Anurag Chitranshi and senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon-director Dr Sathish Reddy, recently performed a highly complex surgery to re-implant the right arm of a 12-year-old girl.

 The girl, Thanishka, was brought to the emergency department at around 1:30 pm with accidental entrapment of her right arm in an elevator. Preliminary examination showed her hand was cut at a level just above the wrist and she bled from the amputation stump, while remaining conscious and co-operative.

The amputated arm was brought in a plastic bag put in a thermacol box filled with ice pieces and ice packs, as is desired for a successful re-implantation.

Doctors in the emergency department resuscitated, stabilised her and did dressing for the arm. The amputated hand was sent to the operation theatre immediately.

Doctors started surgery on the amputated hand at 2:30 pm. Thanishka was wheeled into the operation theatre by 3:30 pm and the marathon eight-hour surgery began to re-implant the arm. A team comprising of Plastic Surgeon Dr Anurag Chitranshi, Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Sathish Reddy and Dr BSV Raju, Neurosurgeon & Diredctor to operated on her.

Initially, she was given general Anaesthesia and the arm bone was fixed. Subsequently the veins, arteries, nerves and tendons were repaired and the surgery was completed. The blood circulation was re-established in the cut hand within 6 hours of amputation. She was discharged after a 2-week stay at the hospital with the full hand. “The preservation of the amputated hand in a clean bag, with the bag surrounded by ice cubes, the immediate attention of the team at casualty,” says Dr Anurag Chitranshi.