Doctors Implanted his amputated hand in his foot here’s why (true story)

Doctors Implanted his amputated hand in his foot. Changsha, Hunan, China

source: CNN

Doctors have performed an extraordinary operation to save a man’s severed hand attaching it to his right leg.

The man’s hand was successfully re-attached back to the wrist after a month, when the nerves and tendons had healed the trauma.

The rare operation was carried out in a hospital in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, central China.

A man whose left hand was severed in an accident at work had been grafted to his leg for a month. This was done to give the hand a flow of blood and thus keep it alive until the nerves and tendons of the wrist heal.

The accident happened in a factory after a worker named Zhou cut his left hand in an industrial accident involving a machine with a rotating blade.

He was taken to Xiangya Hospital in Changsha, where doctors assessed the situation.

Dr. Tang Juyú, head of microsurgery at the hospital decided he could give Zhou the opportunity to ‘revive’ the lost hand – with an operation that he and his team had already successfully once done in 2013 in similar circumstances.

Because both Zhou arm and hand were seriously injured after the accident, Doctors were unable to connect them immediately, opting instead to allow the nerves and tendons to heal with time.

This meant that Dr. Tang and his team decided to graft Zhou’s left hand in his right ankle.

Dr. Tang explained: ‘Under normal temperatures, a severed finger needs to resume the supply of blood in less than 10 hours, but that time is even shorter for a separated limb.

“If a Limb is cut the flow of blood for a long time, tissues die and the damages can’t be repaired.”

After the successful surgery reattaching the hand (in the picture), Zhou is now able to move his fingers slightly. Over time it is expected that it will regain its full hand function

Mr Zhou’s hand remained “alive” and was allowed to heal strapped to his ankle during more than a month.

Then Dr. Tang and his team reunited successfully his hand to his arm in a surgery that lasted 10 hours.

According to Dr. Tang, Zhou is now able to move his little finger , but many hours of rehabilitation are still needed before regaining full use of his hand.

The story follows the story of Xiao Wei, where he had the right hand cut off due to an accident at work in November 10 2013, doctors at a hospital in Changde, also in Hunan Province, successfully reattached the hand of man after it was strapped to his ankle for a month.