A 27-year-old man, whose left thumb got torn off in a drilling accident at work, was successfully operated upon by doctors at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, who attached the digit to his hand after a 10-hour surgery. Sources said all his tendons, arteries, veins, and nerves connecting the thumb had been pulled out in the accident.
At the time of the incident, the patient, an industrial drill operator at a construction equipment manufacturing company in Faridabad, was wearing a glove that got entangled in a powerful, running drill. The drill pulled the glove off with great force, tearing out his entire thumb with it.
Mohit Sharma, head of the plastic and reconstructive surgery at Amrita Hospital, who led the operation, said: "The patient came to us with his left thumb traumatically amputated. The complexity of the amputation made the surgery very challenging. All the connecting tendons, arteries, veins, and nerves had been pulled out. It was not a clear-cut severance. So, the thumb was very difficult to replant. But we took it up as a challenge.”
The patient was wheeled immediately into operating theatre, where the thumb was reattached to its natural place in a surgery that lasted 10 hours. Sharma said, "Thumb reconstruction is one of the most challenging and complicated reconstructive surgeries. The removal of the patient’s thumb occurred due to a powerful pulling force that disrupted all bodily structures up to 20 cm further up the forearm. There was extensive damage to the arteries, veins, and nerves. Numerous grafts had to be applied between the veins to create a healthy structure, restore blood circulation, and allow for end-to-end joining.”
The doctor further said: “The patient’s thumb bone is currently fixed with the help of Kirschner wires used to repair fractures. Once his bone is healed [in 6-8 weeks], the wires would be pulled out and thumb movement can be resumed over time. This surgery was extremely important for the patient, as the thumb contributes to 40% of a person’s hand function."
The patient, who is the father of two children and the sole breadwinner of his family: “I was devastated when I lost my thumb and couldn’t bear to consider the prospect of living the rest of my life with the left hand not fully functional. It would have been very difficult to continue with my job which requires dexterity with my hands. I was dejected when I was turned away from various hospitals. I thank the doctors of Amrita Hospital for attempting this surgery and giving me a fully functional hand back.”
The surgery was performed by Sharma along with two other surgeons, Vasundhara Jain and Devajyoti Guin.