In order to increase knowledge and awareness, the Indian Society for Surgery of the Hand (ISSH), a national association of hand surgeons conducted training programs to promote safe surgical practices in caring for people with hand and upper limb disorders in association with the Kolkata Arthroscopy & Sports Surgery Society (KASS) at Medica Superspecialty Hospital.

Hand injuries are a big component of all the trauma that is encountered. Injury to the hand causes significant loss of function with the possible loss of livelihood to a person and thus affects the family and society as a whole. India being a country with labour intensive work, especially in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, hand injuries are common. People of all age groups are susceptible.

As far as senior citizens are concerned – accidental injuries can cause great pain and disability since healing takes time and they often suffer from painful degenerative arthritis. This is one of the major difference from other injuries since healing from hand injury categorically demands longer recovery time. After all, a serious handicap with regard to upper limb minimises the physical ability of a person. Thus hand surgery is an important subspecialty.

Due to the extensive patient load in our public health care system, it is often difficult to run specialised hand care services, thus creating a lacuna for surgical trainees as well. The workshop was attended by more than 60 delegates from all over West Bengal. Apart from surgical video demonstrations and talks, there was a healthy interactive session.

This course was also designed to benefit the trainees by filling up the void in their existing curriculum by including hands-on workshops. The one and half days event involved case-based learning, and practical skills stations for the delegates.

The feedback from the doctors was quite encouraging and many of them pointed out that such cases have increased by leaps and bounds. “This will go long way in promoting and sustaining better healthcare for hand and wrist disorders in the eastern region,” said Dr. Anirban Chatterjee, Senior Consultant, Hand & Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon, Medica Superspecialty Hospital and Dr. Sutanu Hazra, Senior Consultant, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Medica Superspecialty Hospital.

“No doubt, even the smallest hand injuries require proper medical evaluation and prompt treatment. The most common cause of the injuries include blunt trauma, followed by injury from sharp objects-namely cuts, fractures and dislocations, soft tissue injuries and amputations, infections, burns, and high-pressure injuries,” said Dr. Hazra and Dr.Chatterjee.

“Medica is proud to host this workshop collaborating with ISSH, KASS and West Bengal Orthopaedic Association (WBOA),” said Dr. Vikash Kapoor, Vice-Chairman and Group Director – Orthopaedics, Medica Group of Hospitals.
Dr Kapoor who is also the Vice-President of KASS, further added that the symptoms of hand and upper limb injuries can differ depending on the nature of the injury, or how the injury occurred, depth and severity among others. “Other common hand injuries include nail injuries, finger infection and injuries and wrist injuries,” he said.

“We as a healthcare brand always look at reaching out to the masses with effective treatment in the concerned areas. The whole domain of hand and wrist surgery deserve special mention and our team of orthopedic surgeons is putting forth best efforts to innovate in this regard with the latest technology,” said Dr Alok Roy, Chairman, Medica Group of Hospitals.

A lot of people prefer to go to south India as many hospitals there have a separate hand and upper limb surgery department. But when we talk about the eastern region and specifically Kolkata, such specialised hand and wrist surgery services, including rehabilitation services by trained hand therapists are almost negligible. However, such services have been available at Medica since its inception in 2010. This teamwork is essential for delivering effective care for hand injury cases.