This Carpenter Would Have Lost His Thumb If He Had Reached Delhi 2 Hours Late

New Delhi: In a rare surgery, doctors in Delhi successfully reattached the amputated thumb of a 34-year-old Indian carpenter who flew to Delhi from Dubai with a severed thumb wrapped in a bandage, 22 hours after the incident. A delay of two hours would have drastically reduced the chances of recovery.

Sandeep, who hails from Rajasthan, lost his left thumb while working on a saw machine in September. His modest income did not allow him treatment in Dubai. Doctors there put the thumb between the fingers and wrapped a bandage around it.On arriving in India, the family took him to the nearest hospital to the airport.

The saw had cut three vessels causing loss of 300 ml of blood in less than 24 hours, doctors at the hospital said, PTI reported.

“We took him in for surgery within 10 minutes of reaching the hospital. The procedure, technically known as ‘reimplantation’ and conducted under regional anesthesia, took six hours to complete. This is a highly specialised process where micro suture and micro instruments are used,” Dr Aashish Chaudhry was reported as saying.

Doctors termed it a rare surgery as an amputated thumb can be successfully reattached within 24 hours only if it is preserved in a cold container or surrounded by ice.