NEW DELHI: A team of doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital were able to perform a rare, complex surgery to transplant toes to hand, giving a 5-year-old a functional hand. Mayra from Alwar, Rajasthan was unable to attend school after losing both her palms in a fodder-cutting machine two years ago. At that time, her family rushed her to the hospital in hopes to unite the fingers but it was not possible.
Unable to perform her routine tasks or play with toys because of the absence of fingers and thumbs in both hands, she was not admitted to the school for fear that she would not be able to hold the pen to write. The patient’s father Net Ram got some information regarding finger reconstruction being done in the Department of Burns & Plastic Surgery at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi and he consulted the doctors in Jan 2023.
A team of doctors under the supervision of Dr Shalabh Kumar, head of the department, examined the patient and planned to transfer two toes from her left foot to her hand. Dr Kumar said these are very complex surgical processes, which require to unite of thin thread-like blood vessels to restore blood circulation and Nerves and Tendons for function. Such types of surgeries require experienced plastic surgeons and an anaesthesia team.