Doctors at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital claim to have successfully reattached a completely severed thumb.
Dr Md Abdul Mannan, an associate professor of the Plastic Surgery Department, said he led the operation on September 9 in which the thumb of Yasin Ali’s left hand was stitched back on.
Sources say the 21-year-old’s left thumb was amputated during a skirmish with opponents on September 8.
He was admitted to the Burn and Plastic Surgery Department at Osmani Medical College while his severed digit was preserved in a refrigerator at the victim’s home for 11 hours.
A team led by Mannan operated on Yasin in an eight-hour surgical procedure which started at 11am on September 9.
The doctor claimed the reattached thumb regained its 100% function within eight hours of the operation.
“It is possible to reattach completely severed fingers if the victim comes for treatment within 6-12 hours,” Mannan told the Dhaka Tribune.
He said the first successful reattachment of a severed body part had taken place at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital in 1992.
“It is the first time such a feat has been achieved by a hospital outside Dhaka,” Mannan said.
His claim could not be verified independently.
