Salem: The Government hospital (GH) here, named after India's former Steel minister Mohan Kumaramangalam, saw steely nerves at play when doctors successfully re-fixed the severed left hand of an 11-year-old boy to his wrist, after his family brought the dismembered part in a polythene bag within half-an-hour of a cylinder blast mishap the poor boy Moulseeshwaran had suffered.
The bizarre mishap that took place recently was triggered by a cylinder blast at a vulcanizing shop near Mouleeshwaran's house, doctors who performed this extraordinary piece of micro hand surgery at the Salem GH said on Monday. Some metallic portions of the cylinder that flied out from the blast had pierced through the tile-roofed house of Raman (boy's father) and landed on the lad's wrist and cut off his hand. Another piece caused a fracture on his thigh.
However, the boy's parents quickly acted with alacrity, said the Salem GH Dean Dr Balaji Nathan and the plastic surgeon Dr Rajendran who did the highly specialized surgery. They put the severed hand in a polythene bag, placed that in an ice box and rushed it along with the injured boy to the Salem GH.
A team of surgeons led by Dr Rajendran did the plastic surgery on the boy with sophisticated tools including a powerful microscope that lasted for six hours, the doctors said. As many as 26 nerves had to be conjoined perfectly when the hand was grafted back on Mouleeshwaran's wrist, they said, adding, the boy was now recovering post-surgery with the aid of complementary treatment.
The fracture the boy suffered on his thigh was also being set right, the doctors said, adding, he would be fully cured in three months. What would have cost Rs five lakh in a private hospital was done free at Salem GH under Chief Minister's comprehensive health insurance scheme.
