Doctors who put Johura's arm back together again stand beside her bed
After initial preparations the main surgery began at 10pm.
Dr Hasib Rahman, head of plastic surgery, and Dr Md Abdul Mannan, specialist surgeon, led the team in the surgery. They were assisted by doctors Subol, Iqbal, Abdul Latif, Anis, Tipu, Monis, and interns Pakhi and Surovi. Dr Mithu was the anesthetist.
The bone, the blood vessels and the nerves were reconnected, in a procedure known as neuro vascular anastomoses. They then ensured blood flow to the vessels and completed the surgery successfully.
Head of plastic surgery Dr Hasib Rahman said the doctors were at first in doubt whether they would do this risky operation.
“Then we decided to take the risk and began the surgery at 10pm.”
Doctors from the orthopaedic and physiotherapy department also took part in the surgery, he said.
Only one or two of these surgeries have been performed in Bangladesh before, Dr Hasib said, and this was the first time it was done in Sylhet.
“The patient will not regain hundred percent functionality of her hand, but she will be able to do basic tasks,” he said.
Johura's blood circulation was good and her condition was improving, the doctor said.
“We are hopeful that the arm will survive. She will be under observation for another two weeks,” he added.
Specialist Surgeon Dr Abdul Mannan said Johura's surgery had incurred very little cost at Osmani.
“She only had to buy some basic medical equipment and thread. The hospital is providing the expensive medicine she needs,” he added.
Dr Mannan said awareness could save many more patients who suffer such injuries.
“People come in late because they do not know about this. Sometimes, severed limbs are left behind,” he said.
“If the patient is brought in immediately, replantation is possible.”
Dr Hasib said patients should be brought to hospital within six hours of the accident. The severed limb should be carried in an ice bag but it should not touch the ice.
“It should be in a bag within an ice-filled bag,” he explained.
Kaadar Ali thanked the hospital and the doctors for the treatment of his wife. Johura's employer Ekabbar Hossain, the owner of Uttara Stone Crusher, said he would be taking care of her treatment costs and other expenditures of the family.In an extraordinary feat, doctors at the Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital have put back an industrial worker's arm after it was severed in a machine.
This complex and skillful operation, called a replantation surgery, was done by a multidisciplinary team led by the plastic surgery department for almost five hours on the night of April 18.
The patient, Johura Begum, 38, is a worker at the Uttara Stone Crusher in Jaflong.
On that day, she went to work at the stone crusher with her two daughters. Around 9am, a piece of stone got stuck in the crusher's belt. Jahura tried to remove the stone by hand and her right arm got caught in the machine.
In the blink of an eye, her arm was severed from under the elbow.
She was brought to Osmani hospital at 12pm and taken into surgery at 8pm. Kadar Ali, her husband, said he and the stone crusher manager Shafiq tied the severed arm in a cloth and brought Johura to the hospital.
Doctors who put Johura's arm back together again stand beside her bed
After initial preparations the main surgery began at 10pm.
Dr Hasib Rahman, head of plastic surgery, and Dr Md Abdul Mannan, specialist surgeon, led the team in the surgery. They were assisted by doctors Subol, Iqbal, Abdul Latif, Anis, Tipu, Monis, and interns Pakhi and Surovi. Dr Mithu was the anesthetist.
The bone, the blood vessels and the nerves were reconnected, in a procedure known as neuro vascular anastomoses. They then ensured blood flow to the vessels and completed the surgery successfully.
Head of plastic surgery Dr Hasib Rahman said the doctors were at first in doubt whether they would do this risky operation.
“Then we decided to take the risk and began the surgery at 10pm.”
Doctors from the orthopaedic and physiotherapy department also took part in the surgery, he said.
Only one or two of these surgeries have been performed in Bangladesh before, Dr Hasib said, and this was the first time it was done in Sylhet.
“The patient will not regain hundred percent functionality of her hand, but she will be able to do basic tasks,” he said.
Johura's blood circulation was good and her condition was improving, the doctor said.
“We are hopeful that the arm will survive. She will be under observation for another two weeks,” he added.
Specialist Surgeon Dr Abdul Mannan said Johura's surgery had incurred very little cost at Osmani.
“She only had to buy some basic medical equipment and thread. The hospital is providing the expensive medicine she needs,” he added.
Dr Mannan said awareness could save many more patients who suffer such injuries.
“People come in late because they do not know about this. Sometimes, severed limbs are left behind,” he said.
“If the patient is brought in immediately, replantation is possible.”
Dr Hasib said patients should be brought to hospital within six hours of the accident. The severed limb should be carried in an ice bag but it should not touch the ice.
“It should be in a bag within an ice-filled bag,” he explained.
Kaadar Ali thanked the hospital and the doctors for the treatment of his wife. Johura's employer Ekabbar Hossain, the owner of Uttara Stone Crusher, said he would be taking care of her treatment costs and other expenditures of the family.
Doctors who put Johura's arm back together again stand beside her bed
After initial preparations the main surgery began at 10pm.
Dr Hasib Rahman, head of plastic surgery, and Dr Md Abdul Mannan, specialist surgeon, led the team in the surgery. They were assisted by doctors Subol, Iqbal, Abdul Latif, Anis, Tipu, Monis, and interns Pakhi and Surovi. Dr Mithu was the anesthetist.
The bone, the blood vessels and the nerves were reconnected, in a procedure known as neuro vascular anastomoses. They then ensured blood flow to the vessels and completed the surgery successfully.
Head of plastic surgery Dr Hasib Rahman said the doctors were at first in doubt whether they would do this risky operation.
“Then we decided to take the risk and began the surgery at 10pm.”
Doctors from the orthopaedic and physiotherapy department also took part in the surgery, he said.
Only one or two of these surgeries have been performed in Bangladesh before, Dr Hasib said, and this was the first time it was done in Sylhet.
“The patient will not regain hundred percent functionality of her hand, but she will be able to do basic tasks,” he said.
Johura's blood circulation was good and her condition was improving, the doctor said.
“We are hopeful that the arm will survive. She will be under observation for another two weeks,” he added.
Specialist Surgeon Dr Abdul Mannan said Johura's surgery had incurred very little cost at Osmani.
“She only had to buy some basic medical equipment and thread. The hospital is providing the expensive medicine she needs,” he added.
Dr Mannan said awareness could save many more patients who suffer such injuries.
“People come in late because they do not know about this. Sometimes, severed limbs are left behind,” he said.
“If the patient is brought in immediately, replantation is possible.”
Dr Hasib said patients should be brought to hospital within six hours of the accident. The severed limb should be carried in an ice bag but it should not touch the ice.
“It should be in a bag within an ice-filled bag,” he explained.
Kaadar Ali thanked the hospital and the doctors for the treatment of his wife. Johura's employer Ekabbar Hossain, the owner of Uttara Stone Crusher, said he would be taking care of her treatment costs and other expenditures of the family.