Reattaching the two hands of a man who was severed by his neighbor due to a conflict

On November 6, Cho Ray Hospital announced that it had successfully reattached the severed hands of a male patient in a fight with a neighbor by activating the red alert procedure and mobilizing multiple surgical teams throughout the night.

Patient PTC (40 years old, residing in Dong Thap province) was transferred to Cho Ray Hospital at 11:00 p.m. on October 16 in a state of severe blood loss shock and multiple injuries with one hand completely severed and the other hand nearly severed.

Immediately after receiving the patient, the hospital activated the red alert procedure, mobilizing forces from the Emergency Department, Orthopedic Trauma Department and Anesthesia and Resuscitation Department to coordinate treatment, blood transfusion and hemodynamic stabilization, before taking the patient into surgery.

Over the course of 12 hours, the surgical team successfully reattached the patient's severed hands. Photo: Hospital

Dr. Tran Phuoc Binh, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Cho Ray Hospital, said that this was a complicated surgery, lasting 12 hours, with the participation of 3 teams. The first team processed, cleaned and fixed the bones, preparing for microsurgery. The second team performed the connection of blood vessels, nerves and tendons under a microscope. In particular, the right hand was combined with bones and connected blood vessels and nerves, while the left hand was completely severed and had to be reopened many times to reconnect blood vessels.

By 1:00 PM the following day, the surgery was a success, both hands were pink, warm and showed signs of life. After 10 days of microsurgery, the patient received additional skin grafts and physical therapy to restore function. Currently, his health is stable, both hands are doing well and the patient was discharged from the hospital on November 6.

Doctor examines patient. Photo: Hospital

According to Dr. Tran Phuoc Binh, the technique of reattaching severed limbs by microsurgery is a form of “super surgery”, requiring high level of skill and modern equipment. Each shift at the Orthopedic Trauma Department has a microsurgeon, so that complicated cases of severed limbs can be promptly handled.

Within just one week of this case, Cho Ray Hospital received and successfully reattached many other cases of severed fingers, hands and feet.

Dr. Binh added that recently, the number of injuries caused by fights has been on the rise, mostly related to conflicts after consuming alcohol. However, not all cases can be treated successfully if they are not given timely and proper first aid.

Doctors recommend that when an accident unfortunately occurs, the first step of proper first aid is very important. Accordingly, the patient needs to stop the bleeding, quickly preserve the severed limb with a clean bandage placed in a sealed plastic bag, put the bag in a bucket of ice water (do not immerse directly) and quickly transfer the victim to a medical facility capable of performing microsurgery for timely treatment and care.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/y-te/noi-lien-hai-ban-tay-cua-nguoi-dan-ong-bi-hang-xom-chem-dut-lia-do-mau-thuan-20251106192541368.htm