Working overnight to 'revive' a young man's severed hand

Successfully reattached severed wrist

The Emergency Department of Nghe An Orthopedic Trauma Hospital received patient LTT (Tuong Duong, Nghe An) who was admitted with a severed left wrist due to an accident; he received first aid at the district hospital.

The patient was admitted to the hospital 6 hours after the incident. It had been quite a while since the accident that caused the amputation, and the doctors determined that every minute that passed would shorten the patient's chances of recovering his hand. Therefore, the doctors quickly performed the necessary tests and held an interdisciplinary consultation. The team decided to perform emergency microsurgery to reattach the patient's severed wrist. The complicated surgery ended at 2am, when the patient's hand turned warm and pink.

A team of doctors from Nghe An Orthopedic Trauma Hospital performed emergency microsurgery to reattach the severed wrist of patient LTT. Photo: Dau Huyen

The recovery process and post-operative care for the patient were carried out strictly according to the protocol. Four days after the surgery, the severed hand was truly “revived” on Mr. T’s seemingly disabled wrist.

Currently, nearly 10 days after surgery, Mr. T.'s hand is gradually recovering and can practice moving. Mr. T. is still being monitored and given special care at the department. In the coming time, Mr. T. must also undergo rehabilitation training to be able to move almost as well as before.

Wound on the wrist of a patient with LTT before and after surgery. Photo: Dau Huyen; Technique: Huu Quan

Microsurgery to reattach blood vessels, nerves, and severed limbs is considered a complex technique, requiring surgeons to have specialized skills, skillful hands, and smooth coordination between specialties. In addition, surgeons must also understand the process of blood clotting, hemodynamics, vascular structure, etc. to avoid complications that may occur during surgery.

Dr. Nguyen Duy Quyet - Head of the Upper Limb Department said: "Reconnecting blood vessels and nerves for the patient is a difficult operation. In addition to requiring dexterity and high concentration, the surgery needs to be performed urgently and quickly to restore blood supply to the severed hand as soon as possible."

Surgery to reattach severed limbs with high success rate

As a pioneer hospital performing microsurgery to reconnect limbs in the province since 2014, every year,Nghe An Orthopedic Trauma HospitalReceived and successfully operated on many cases of severed limbs, restoring motor function to patients.

Nghe An Orthopedic Trauma Hospital is a pioneer in performing microsurgery to reconnect limbs in the province, and has so far successfully performed surgery on many patients. In the photo, patient LTT is gradually recovering after surgery. Photo: Dau Huyen

Doctor Quyet said: “Microsurgery to reattach blood vessels, nerves, and severed limbs is considered a complex technique, requiring surgeons to have specialized skills, skillful hands, and smooth coordination between specialties”. According to Doctor Quyet, the golden time to “save” a patient’s severed limb is within 6 hours. If left longer, the tissues will begin to die, and the reattachment will be difficult to succeed.

InNghe An Orthopedic Trauma Hospital, with a standardized operating room system, modern medical equipment fully meeting the needs of sterile and highly technical surgeries, along with a team of well-trained and experienced professionals allowing for precise suturing of small blood vessels and nerve bundles. Therefore, the reattachment of severed limbs has a very high success rate.

“When unfortunate incidents occur that cause limbs to be severed, first aid must be given to stop the bleeding immediately on the spot, and the patient and the severed limb must be taken to the nearest medical facility for first aid; then the patient must be quickly transported to a specialized hospital for timely treatment and intervention,” Dr. Quyet advised./.