Teacher in terrible traffic accident has arm reattached

(Baonghean.vn)- Driving a white Ford Ecosport, he lost control and crashed into a road barrier. The barrier pierced straight into his right arm, almost severing it.

Up to now, after 3 days since the surgery to reattach a nearly severed arm at Nghe An General Hospital, patient Ha Huy Nga (36 years old, teacher in Quy Hop district) has progressed well, the severed arm has shown signs of recovery.

» Driver's arm severed after car 'split in half'

At 5:00 p.m. on July 16, the Emergency Department of the Provincial General Hospital admitted patient N. with a wound in the lower third of his right arm that was nearly severed at 4:00 a.m. due to a traffic accident that afternoon.

Upon admission, the patient was in a state of traumatic shock. All the bones, blood vessels, muscles of the right arm, and the median, radial, and ulnar nerves on the right side were completely severed. The patient's arm had only a 5cm piece of skin left, the hand was pale and cold, the wound was jagged, had many foreign objects, and was crushed.

The Russian teacher's car was deformed after crashing into a road barrier. Photo: Hung Cuong

Immediately, the interdisciplinary consultation team: Trauma, Thoracic Surgery, Anesthesia and Resuscitation was mobilized. Realizing that the patient had severe blood loss due to no blood vessels supplying the limb, with a high risk of limb necrosis and disability if not treated promptly, the consultation team decided to perform emergency surgery.

The surgery lasted more than 3 hours that night and was a coordinated operation between doctors from 2 departments: Trauma - Orthopedics and Cardiovascular - Thoracic Surgery.

Doctors are taking steps to reattach the patient's arm. Photo: Hoang Yen

“Immediately after the trauma team fixed the broken arm bone with nails; the vascular surgery team quickly exposed the vessels, stopped the bleeding, and removed the crushed brachial artery tissue. Then, they grafted the brachial artery and vein using autologous saphenous vein taken from the patient’s thigh.

After the vascular graft, realizing that the peripheral circulation had perfused blood and venous return, the trauma team continued to debride necrotic and crushed muscle and soft tissue, and reconnect the tendons, median nerve, and radial nerve" - ​​Master Pham Van Chung, deputy head of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, vascular surgeon said.

After surgery, the patient was transferred to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit for monitoring and intensive care. The patient's resuscitation and wound treatment were carried out strictly according to the protocol. Controlling the post-operative necrotic infection was very important, because the patient's arm wound was crushed and very dirty. The patient was maintained on anticoagulants, pain relievers, diuretics, high-dose antibiotics in combination with regular dressing changes and wound cleaning. Due to arterial damage, the hospital mobilized nearly 3 liters of blood and plasma to transfuse the patient.

The patient's arm after surgery. Photo: Hoang Yen

“Up to now, the patient's health has temporarily stabilized, his hand is warm and pink, and his pulse is clear. Initially, the reattached arm has had positive results. It is expected that when the patient's arm is stable, the Traumatology - Orthopedics doctors will continue the surgery to reconnect the two missing radial nerves to restore the patient's mobility" - Master Phan Ngoc Khoa, Deputy Head of the Trauma - Orthopedics Department said.

Hoang Yen