After nearly eight hours of surgery, a team of doctors at the PGI on April 12 successfully re-implanted the left hand of the Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Punjab Police that was chopped off in a clash by Nihang Sikhs in Patiala.

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The 50-year-old patient had an amputation through the proximal wrist of left hand, said the PGI. The reimplantation was started around 10 a.m. after initial preparation of the amputated part. Both radial and ulnar arteries, the vena comitantes and an extra dorsal vein were anastomosed (reconnection of blood verssels). All the flexors and extensor tendons were repaired, it said in a statement.

All the nerves at the wrist required bony fixation done using three K-wires. The approximate time taken was about 7.5 hours. The PGI said this was technically very complex and challenging surgery, which was successfully done. It was evaluated at the end of surgery that hand is viable, warm with good circulation, it added.

After a phone call from the Director General of Police, PGI Director activated the emergency team at Advanced Trauma centre and he gave the responsibility to Ramesh Sharma, Head Department of Plastic Surgery, for hand re-implantation. The surgery team comprised Sunil Gaba, Jerry R. John, Suraj Nair, Mayank, Chandra, Shubendu, Ankur, Abhishek and Purnima, while the nursing team comprised Arvind, Sneha and Arsh.