Replantation
Your hands are vital to almost all your everyday functions. You need them to execute practically every task. Without them, you would experience significant disability, and life would likely be far more challenging.
The hands are made up of finger bones, muscles, and a host of soft tissues, including joints, ligaments, and tendons. Also, your hands have blood carrying channels known as veins and arteries. A partially or completely severed hand is a significant trauma. But with quick action and prompt evaluation followed by a treatment known as hand replantation, you might not only be able to have the severed feature reattached but regain a significant amount of strength and mobility.
Replantation is often performed to reposition severed hands or components like fingers or other separated tissues or structures. In most cases, replantation is used following a traumatic injury, such as an automobile accident. Hands and fingers are often severed as the result of sharp, slashing actions or crushing.
The goal of reattachment is to not only replace the severed body part but attempt to restore all lost movement. Unfortunately not everyone will be a suitable candidate. Certain detached parts are simply too damaged to be attached. That said, not all hope is lost. If your doctor determines you are not a good candidate for replantation, there are other treatment options, such as prostheses insertion or revision amputation. A prosthesis is an artificially created finger or hand. During revision amputation, a surgeon might remove lingering tissue from the accident site to prevent potentially serious consequences like infections. or example, injuries to muscles, soft tissues, or blood vessels will be fixed.
Following replantation surgery, expect to undergo an extensive recovery process. The specific time you need to regain movement and strength varies depending upon several factors, including:
- Joint involvement. Injuries that do not involve damage to joints stand a better chance of regaining mobility.
- Age. Typically, younger persons experience quicker and more efficient nerve regrowth, which is crucial to regaining movement and strength
- Trauma Type. Many surgeons suggest that cleanly severed hands or fingers are more likely to regain a significant degree of movement than crushed or mangled body parts.
Patients who smoke can speed up their recovery by stopping smoking. This habit interrupts circulation and limits blood flow to the replanted region. Additionally, you may be encouraged to hold the replanted body part above your heart. Performing this action can improve blood circulation to the affected area. Once surgical wounds have sufficiently healed, you will need to undergo a course of physical therapy. In coordination with your surgeon, these are exercises designed by a medical professional known as a physical therapist. Physical therapy improves your hand’s mobility and strength. Your surgeons stress that you should not expect to regain full mobility in the replanted hand, digit, or tissues. Recovery is gradual, and most medical professionals maintain that ultimately recapturing anywhere from 60 to 80 percent mobility is considered a good result.
