Woman's severed fingers successfully restored in six-hour surgery at Bengaluru hospital

A woman who injured her hand while using an electrical fodder cutting machine had her severed fingers restored successfully in a six-hour surgery.

Kavita, a 32-year-old resident of Kolar, injured her right hand on Sunday morning. Her ring finger was cut off, and the tendons and nerves in her middle finger were severed. "We initially went to a private hospital in Kolar, but they could not perform the surgery," Kavita's brother-in-law Gopalkrishna said.

They then brought her to Bengaluru’s Hosmat Hospital, where she underwent surgery. "The family had neatly preserved the ring finger in a clean plastic bag, which was placed in an ice pack within a tiffin box. Due to the correct preservation method and timely arrival, we were able to perform the surgery," explained Dr Ajith Benedict Rayan, medical director at Hosmat.

The replantation surgery utilised a Special Operative Microscope, which provided 20 times magnification.

Dr Deepu N K, one of the two plastic surgeons involved in Kavita's operation, mentioned that she is expected to regain 70-80% functionality in her fingers after recovery and physiotherapy. She will be discharged in two days.

"We encounter 1 to 2 such cases per month. Such cases are more common in India due to inadequate safety measures for various equipment," he explained.