Hand Severed in Accident Successfully Rejoined After 48 Hours

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When young Akhilesh Kumar, a rubber factory worker in Choutuppal, Telangana, showed up for work on 3rd of August, he had no idea that his life would take a turn for the worse as a horrifying mishap at the rubber cutting machine would completely severe his left hand at the wrist from the rest of his arm.

Fortunately for the young lad from Bihar, the accident occurred at a time when medical technology is strong enough to make miracles happen.

Miracles like rejoining his hand back to the rest of his body within the next 48 hours.

Successful Despite Crossing the Golden Hour of Surgery

Ask any microvascular surgeon what is the optimal time for rejoining cut off body parts back to the main frame, and they will tell you the golden hour is 6 hours.

But that was not the case with Akhilesh.

When the accident occurred on the factory floor, the injured boy was immediately taken to the nearest hospital in the locality. But since the premises did not have the ability to reattach the severed wrist, they referred Akhilesh to the Somajiguda branch of Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad. A journey that effectively lost the boy many precious hours.

Thankfully, the hospital staff knew the correct procedure for preserving body parts, and so had placed the hand in sterile salt solution (saline) and packaged it in an icebox before sending it off to Hyderabad.

A move that can be partly credited for the success of the surgical team at Yashoda Hospitals.

The Next 48 Hours

Once the boy was admitted to the hospital, the expert team of surgeons, consisting of Dr. Sasikanth Maddu (Reconstructive Surgery), Dr. Devender Singh (Microvascular Surgery), and Dr. Sunil Dachepalli (Orthopaedic Surgery) evaluated the patient and realized that the blood flow of the injured arm was not adequate enough to reattach the wrist.

So they stabilized the blood flow in Akhilesh's arm for the first 24 hours before they scrubbed in for what would be an intense, 8 hour long session in the operating room.

The result: The boy was able to move his fingers 48 hours after the time his hand came under the chopping block.

Saved From Destitution

Costing an arm and a leg is not just an expression when it comes to factory workers who work with dangerous machines.

And if Akhilesh had sustained this injury just a few decades ago, maybe he would have ended up destitute on the streets because of lack of medical technology.

Fortunately for him, he wasn't.

And that's all that matters in the end.

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