Gruesome images reveal how surgeons stitched a man’s hand back together after it was torn into THREE PIECES by a plastic recycling machine
- The unnamed man got his hand stuck in a machine at work and lost his fingers
- But surgeons managed to put the hand back together again, missing only a tip
- At first the man was upset he didn’t have his entire hand back, his surgeon said
- But when he saw photos of how it looked before he became grateful
Incredible photos have revealed how surgeons claim to have put together the hand of a man who had his fingers ripped off when he got them trapped in a recycling machine.
The victim, who is not named, suffered horrific injuries after getting caught in a huge pressing machine used to condense plastic waste into a cube.
He was at work in Samut Prakan, Thailand, about 20 miles (33km) south of Bangkok, when the accident happened three years ago.
His thumb, little finger, the tip of his index finger and a large chunk of his palm were ripped off, severing the nerves and ligaments.
But incredibly, quick-thinking paramedics recovered the damaged limbs and they were taken to the nearby Chulalat 3 hospital in Bangkok.
After 13 hours of in theatre, surgeons said, they managed to piece the unfortunate man’s hand back together.
The recycling plant worker, from Samut Prakan in Thailand, needed 13 hours of surgery to reconstruct his hand after it was torn to pieces in the accident
Speaking on July 11 about the operation for the first time, Dr Wichit Siritattamrong said at first the patient was still unhappy with the results, asking him ‘Why didn’t you attach my index finger?’.
Dr Siritattamrong, an orthopaedic hand and reconstructive surgeon, said: ‘It upset me a little bit when the patient asked me about his index finger.
‘Then I showed him the picture of his hand before the surgery and he realised how lucky he is to be able to use his hand again.
‘After that he was grateful to all the team who had just saved him from being handicapped.’
Dr Siritattamrong performed the surgery around three years ago but only revealed the details of it on July 11 while discussing some of his career highlights.
He said the man has been able to use his hand and return to work since the accident and has had no complications since.
The man’s doctor said his patient was unhappy with the results at first because he had lost the end of one of his fingers, but when he saw photos of how his hand looked before he was grateful to have anything left at all
Dr Wichit Siritattamrong, who performed the surgery, said he had done it around three years ago and only revealed the feat last week as he looked back on highlights of his career
The man’s hand was torn completely apart in the accident, with a large part of his palm, a finger and the thumb ripped off
‘The doctor should not try to fix the hand in this situation because most of the time it will they end in failure,’ Dr Siritattamrong said.
‘However, the most important thing is that there is an agreement between the patient and the doctor and they understand the procedure and the risks.
‘The patient demand his perfect hand back and I promised him that he will be able to grab things again.’
The surgery took 13 hours in total, during which time the doctor had to attach the bone, the ligaments, the blood vessel and the nerves.
He finally combined all the parts into a hand. However, due to an embolism had to abandon the tip of the index finger as it could have caused the whole procedure to fail.
Dr Siritattamrong added: ‘The man’s employer was understanding and they re-assigned him to new role more suited him more since his hand was not fully functioning anymore.
‘Most of all, I am happy that the patient is happy now and living a good life again.’
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