"At present, after the observation period of 7-10 days after surgery, the reconstructed thumb has very good blood vascularization, and no necrosis has occurred, indicating that the operation is very successful, and the thumb reconstructed with the toes has survived!" Liu Yi, the attending physician of Kunming Hand and Foot Microscopy Technology Center (Hand and Foot Microsurgery of Kunming Orthopaedic Hospital), said during his ward rounds, and the 20-year-old patient Xiao Ji's family also showed a long-lost smile, Xiao Ji's mother, Ms. Gou, said excitedly, "Thank you to the medical staff for their exquisite skills, so that my daughter can regain her right thumb again, and if she can grasp things normally and write with a pen in the future, it will be so happy!" ”
About 5 years ago, Xiao Ji was accidentally shocked to the injury of his right hand while playing outside, and after all-out rescue, he finally failed to save the thumb and middle finger of his right hand, and the function of the remaining three fingers of his right hand was also seriously damaged, so Xiao Ji was forced to use his left hand to live and study. Ms. Gou introduced, "We heard from the attending doctor that when the child became an adult, he could reconstruct the child's fingers and restore some hand functions, so we wanted to go to Shanghai for treatment at first, but gradually inquired and learned that Kunming Orthopedic Hospital was also carrying out this operation, so we took advantage of the child's summer vacation to bring her for treatment." Now that he is about to enter college life, Xiao Ji has more expectations for his crippled right hand, and wants to further improve both the appearance and function.
"When we first came to the hospital, we found that her right thumb and middle finger were missing due to electrical injury, and her index finger and ring finger were also dysfunctional due to electric injury." "Since the function of the thumb accounts for about 40% of the entire hand function, holding, pinching, holding and many fine movements require the cooperation of the thumb, so after many times of communication with the patient and family, we finally decided to take the patient's second toe to reconstruct the right thumb for her, and at the same time improve the function of the index finger and ring finger through skin grafting + VSD negative pressure suction in the donor area." ”
During the operation, the medical team first removed Xiaoji's second toe, which contains tissues such as the joint capsule and skeletal system, and then fixed the bones, sutured tendons, and connected blood vessels, nerves and other tissues, which took nearly 5 hours. Liu Yi, the attending physician, said that the technology is currently very mature in China, and it is also being carried out on a regular basis in Kunming Orthopaedic Hospital, and the success rate of surgery is relatively high. "Xiao Ji has now successfully passed the first stage, and after a month and a half after the operation, she can gradually do tendon flexion and extension and joint function exercises after pulling out the steel nails, and it is estimated that she can recover about 70% of her thumb function."
Why take the second toe to recreate the thumb? Liu Yi, the attending physician, said that the toes usually do not have the functions of holding, pinching, and grasping, and the toe function is weak compared to the fingers, and the removal of the second toe basically does not affect the patient's daily standing and walking. In addition, after years of clinical observation, it has been found that after reconstructing the thumb with the toe, the finger is closer to the heart, the blood supply will be better, and the volume will increase compensatorily. Coupled with the later rehabilitation and functional exercises, this reconstructed thumb will gradually grow closer to the normal shape of the thumb. ”
Source: Metropolis Times
All-media reporter: Fu Xiuli
Editor: Jiang Lei
Review: Wang Haitao
Second trial: Zhong Ling
Final review: Peng Deguang