HCMC: Many people had accidents that resulted in severed limbs and crushed feet.

(Dan Tri) - In just a short time, hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have received and treated many cases of severed legs due to work accidents with machinery.

There are continuously patients with amputated limbs due to work accidents.

On December 2, a representative of Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC) said that recently, this place has received many emergency cases of severed or nearly severed legs due to work accidents.

Last week alone, Cho Ray Hospital activated the red alert procedure right at the Emergency Department, so that doctors from the Orthopedic Trauma, Anesthesia and Resuscitation Departments and Vascular Surgery Departments could coordinate emergency treatment for two cases of severed limbs.

They were a 57-year-old male patient with an amputated ankle and a 46-year-old man with a lower third of his leg (above the ankle) amputated, both caused by a lawn mower.

A case of amputated leg after a work accident (Photo: Hospital).

As soon as the patient is admitted to the hospital, the surgical team is urgently mobilized to minimize the waiting time for limb reattachment surgery for the patient. At the same time, a microsurgeon from the Orthopedic Trauma Department is always available at each shift to handle the situation.

Dr. Nguyen Phuoc Binh, Department of Orthopedics and Trauma, said that reattaching severed limbs is a very difficult microsurgical technique, requiring the use of a microscope and sutures made of blood vessels smaller than a strand of hair.

Each severed limb reattachment surgery usually lasts 5-8 hours to arrange the bones, reconnect blood vessels, tendons and nerves... so in addition to emergency surgery, it also requires meticulousness and high precision.

Currently, the health of the two patients is stable, the severed limbs are preserved, recovering well and will continue to be monitored for 7-10 days. After the wound is dry, stable, with no signs of infection, the patients will be discharged and have regular check-ups.

Also in Ho Chi Minh City, on the evening of December 1, a 41-year-old man slipped into a plastic pelletizing machine while working and was caught in the hot pressing shaft. The accident crushed and completely severed the victim’s foot.

The scene of an accident where a worker's foot was crushed in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: BS).

Dr. Nguyen Thang Nhat Tue, Head of the Emergency Department of a hospital, shared that when the emergency team arrived, the victim had been pulled out by people around him, had lost a lot of blood and was temporarily stopped by a tourniquet, and his foot was stuck deep in the gears of the machine.

"We reduced the pain, bandaged and treated the wound, then urgently transferred the patient to the hospital. The severed foot was no longer intact and was stuck in the hot press filled with plastic particles, so we could not take it out.

When the accident happened, only one person remained calm and rushed in to turn off the engine and pull the victim out. This action helped save the patient's life," said Dr. Tue.

Notes on first aid and preservation of severed limbs

Dr. Nguyen Phuoc Binh said that the "golden time" to save a severed limb is only about 4 hours, and under the condition that the limb is properly preserved.

Doctor Binh analyzed that many patients after accidents were given first aid by people around them without following proper procedures, such as: Putting severed limbs in plastic bags without cooling them; Putting limbs directly into ice boxes without wrapping them, causing frostbite on the tissue, reducing the chance of survival;

The tourniquet was left on for too long, without being monitored by medical staff, causing the remaining limb to lack blood supply, leading to many difficulties during surgery; the severed limb was brought to the hospital covered in sand, grass, and mud, and took a long time to clean.

A patient had successful surgery to reattach his severed foot (Photo: Hospital).

Orthopedic trauma experts recommend that when the above accident occurs, the severed limb must be wrapped in a clean cloth (or sterile towel or gauze), then placed in a tightly tied plastic bag and placed in a bucket of ice water to cool evenly.

In first aid for patients, it is necessary to bandage the cut area quickly, effectively and safely to stop bleeding. After that, the patient needs to be transferred to the nearest medical facility for first aid, before being transferred to a specialized hospital for further treatment.

Doctors also recommend that manufacturing facilities ensure that working machines are covered with safety covers, keep floors dry, and provide regular first aid training to workers to avoid unfortunate accidents.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/tphcm-nhieu-nguoi-gap-tai-nan-dut-lia-chi-ban-chan-bi-nghien-nat-20251202115045676.htm