NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A surgeon at Sentara Norfolk General hospital recently performed an unusual and very rare procedure. A patient lost a thumb – and decided to replace it with one of his toes.
It was an accident that could have jeopardized the patient’s career.“He had a big metal beam or sheet that fell on his thumb and basically amputated it.” Dr. Manas Nigam, a plastic surgeon with Sentara Health said.
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Saving the thumb was the initial goal, but while they tried to reattach the bones, nerves, and tendons the damage was so bad, it was impossible.“If you get blood flow to one part of it, the rest of it is crushed, there’s just too much ‘zone of injury’ to the entire part,” Dr. Nigam said.They discussed replacing it with a prosthetic, which the patient later decided against.“You have to take it off and on, and sometimes you need different kinds of prosthetics depending on the type of task at hand.”
For a more permanent solution, the patient decided to replace the thumb with a toe. His second toe, to be precise. Dr. Nigam, who had done a hand fellowship, had performed a similar procedure in his training, but this time it was his own patient…