Something is better than nothing, goes the adage. This cannot be truer in the case of 38-year Umar Kutty, owner of a furniture shop Al Quassem Mureda, Saudi Arabia. When he could have lost two fingers in an accident, a surgery has helped him get back a thumb from what used to be his index finger. This happened at Ganga Hospital here.

A native of Malapuram, Kerala, Kutty cut his index finger and thumb with plywood cutting machine. He was immediately rushed to the National Hospital along with his amputated fingers. After first aid the hospital referred Kuty to Riyadh Care Hospital, Saudi Arabia. Since microsurgery facility is not available there the hospital was not able to reattach the fingers. But, Umar Kutty was very keen to have his fingers back in place as he was very worried about his profession and his future. He informed his relatives at Malapuram about the incident.

His relatives referred him to Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore, for treatment. Riyadh Care Hospital packed the amputated fingers properly and handed it over to the patient. Kutty reached Coimbatore via Kochi and was rushed to Ganga Hospital.

On examining the amputated fingers, doctors at Ganga Hospital felt that the amputated thumb was very badly injured and not fit for reattachment. Since the length of the thumb is very valuable for the functioning of the hand, the amputated index finger was reattached as a thumb. This surgery took four hours.

The surgical team included Dr. Hari Venkatramani, Dr. Senthil Kumaran, Dr. Ravindra Bharthi, Dr. Sanjai Ramkumar, Dr. Venkateshwaran, Dr. V. Boopathy and the anaesthesiologists.

“The thumb will resume its sensation in a few months and he will not have any disability. It was possible to reattach the finger because the hospital in Saudi Arabia had properly packed the amputated parts, which is very vital for the success of this surgery,” Dr.S. Raja Sabapathy, Chairman, Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery and Burns division, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore, said.

Whenever such amputation happens, the amputated part has to be put in a plain plastic packet and sealed with a rubber band or a thread tightly and the packet should be kept in a flask containing ice all around it. It should be reattached before the ice melts.