CHENNAI: Following a nine-hour complex surgical procedure, doctors at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) managed to save the hands of a 40-year-old woman who was assaulted with a knife during a family dispute.
Dr E Theranirajan, dean, RGGGH, told reporters that the patient was admitted to the hospital on December 21. She had sustained near-total amputation of her left hand at the level of the wrist and partial amputation of her right mid-forearm, in a knife assault.
As tendons, major nerves and blood vessels of the hands were cut, she was referred to RGGGH from the Royapettah Government Hospital. A team of 23 doctors, including plastic surgeons, took over the case and performed the surgery, added Dr Theranirajan.
According to the doctors involved, the functional integrity of the hands and blood circulation was checked and found to be good. The patient was also given physiotherapy. The doctors performed a step-by-step reconstruction of the injured tendons, blood vessels and nerves. The patient is now under care of the plastic surgery department, they added.