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Foreign national on the road to recovery

Rajesh Nair

RESTORED: The severed upper right arm that was reattached. — Photo: By Special arrangement

PONDICHERRY: The upper right arm of a 49-year-old foreign national, which was severed in a road accident last month, has been successfully reattached in a six-hour surgery at the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) here.

The patient, from Auroville, is recuperating and would leave the hospital in a few weeks, Dr. R. K Kalyan Singh, Medical Superintendent PIMS told reporters. "He is responding well and we are hopeful that he would regain near-total function," he added.

He was brought unconscious to the hospital with multiple injuries. Neurosurgeons, orthopaedic, plastic and microvascular surgeons performed the surgery after stabilising his neurological condition, he added.

Dr. Sharad Ramdas, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery said such re-attachments were possible if the amputated part was not crushed.

The hospital should also have a good support team of surgeons, physicians and anaesthetists to perform re-vascularisation. "There is a large bulk of different kinds of tissues in the amputated part which undergo necrosis and reattaching such a limb could even endanger the life of the patient," he added.

The doctors said that if the amputation was due to an accident, the severed part should be brought to the hospital. "In most cases, we have to send some one back to bring the amputated part and precious time is lost," he said.

The reattachment can be very successful if the severed part was brought to the hospital within six hours, Dr. R. Kanagasabai, Professor of Orthopaedics, PIMS said.

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