Doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) have once again achieved a remarkable feat following the successful re-implanting of a severed limb.
A multidisciplinary medical team of fifteen made of surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, anesthetists, and nurses, have successfully reattached the severed hand of 17-year-old Joseph Theuri from Kiambaa, Kiambu County.
The young man’s arm was accidentally chopped off while cleaning a chaff cutter after he had just finished feeding their cows.
To make matters worse, Theuri was taken to KNH more than 10 hours after the accident happened. His severed arm was reportedly stored in a cool box, which made all the difference in having his arm reattached as the severed tissue must be alive for the procedure to work.
Doctors suggest that a severed body part should be sealed in a plastic bag and placed on ice. Direct contact with the ice can cause frostbite and damage the tissue, and suspending severed body parts in water has been shown to make reattachment more difficult.
At the hospital, doctors spent one and a half hours to identify the structures in his arm.
The highly delicate procedure lasted over seven hours and it involved cleaning the wound, identifying structures such as nerves, and shortening the bones, according to Ferdinand Nang’ole who was part of the surgery team.
“Two teams were constituted with one team preparing the hand and the other team working on the stump. This was very important as we were racing against time,” said Dr. Nang’ole.
Lily Koros, CEO KNH celebrated the team for their precision and expertise that has reclaimed the hand of Theuri.
“This successful surgery adds to the list of the great milestones that KNH specialists have made to save, transform, reclaim and prolong lives of many Kenyans and patients from East and Central Africa region,” said the CEO.
Being a delicate and one of its kind surgery in Kenya, the total cost of the surgery is estimated at Sh 1.2 million. A percent of the bill will be paid through the National Hospital Insurance Fund medical cover.
The procedure is yet another impressive medical milestone for KNH medical experts. In November 2016, a team of 58 doctors successfully separated conjoined twins in a 23-hour operation, the first in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa.
KNH specialists also removed a bullet lodged in Baby Satrin’s brain, gave a smile to Roseline Wanyama who had a tumor which had severely affected her jaw, removed a knife lodged in Fatuma Ibrahim’s temporal bone, and a kidney transplant of a two-year-old as well as open-heart surgery.
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