Afghan national gets missing thumb reconstructed at Jaypee Hospital

Noida, Aug 29 (IANS) A team of doctors from Jaypee Hospital have successfully performed a complex surgery on an Afghan national whose toe was transplanted to reconstruct a thumb, the medical institute said on Tuesday.

Irfaan-ul-lah, 22, had lost his three fingers and thumb in a bomb blast two years back and was left with only an index finger in his right hand.

In a seven hours 'Toe Transplant for Thumb Reconstruction' surgery, the doctors successfully transplanted a toe to reconstruct a thumb in the right hand.

In the first stage, the patient's hand was assessed to find out to what extent the loss of structures such as bones, joints, tendons, arteries and veins have happened.

Then, the team decided to implant the second toe of his left foot to his right hand, giving it a structure of a thumb.

"Irfaan-ul-lah is now capable of holding any object with his right hand and performing the routine activities," Saurabh Gupta, Consultant (Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery) at Jaypee Hospital, said in a statement.

"In the next stage, one more finger will be implanted in the same hand so that the patient is able to perform all the tasks with his three fingers," Gupta added.

Irfaan later thanked the doctors and said he could now perform regular activities himself and he was no longer dependant on somebody's presence with him all the time.

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