A forearm replantation surgery was performed on a 46-year-old man from Manapparai at Kauvery Hospitals for the first time. The surgery restored the man’s right forearm, which was severed in a road accident.
About five months ago, the patient from Manapparai fell off a bridge and lay on the spot with his forearm severed for at least three hours before being found. He was rushed to Kauvery Hospital in Cantonment five hours after the accident. “This was a complicated case because of the time it took for the patient to get medical attention,” doctors said.
A microsurgical team, led by S. Skanda, senior orthopedic consultant D. Chockalingam, Head of Anaesthesiology K. Senthil Kumar and a team of plastic surgeons performed the seven-hour surgery under a microscope.
The patient was making steady progress post-surgery and, within a year, would have regained functioning of his hand, the doctors said.
Dr. Skanda said that for such surgeries to have the best results, the patient would have to present themselves to a hospital as soon as possible. “In case of amputation, they must wrap the severed part in a plastic bag and put it on ice while travelling to hospital.”
