Cuttack: In a rare surgery conducted at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, the doctors here successfully transplanted the thumb of a fifteen-month-old baby girl making it the first such surgery done in the state.
According to hospital authorities, Smruti Rekha, the daughter of Surendra Kumar Pradhan from Chhatabara locality in Deogarh district, was born with four fingers on her right hand. However, she was facing various issues owing to the lack of a thumb.
The family approached the surgery department of SCB Medical College and Hospital over the issue and met HoD of the Dept Prof Dr Bibhuti Bhusan Nayak who conducted several tests. The doctors, then, decided to perform a surgery to transplant the thumb after removing another finger of the same hand.
Despite its technical complexities, a team of doctors including Dr. Ashis Pattnaik, Dr. Mahesh Mondal, Dr. Chandan and Dr. Rojalin took it as a challenge and wanted to proceed. Dr. Nayak said that recently the state government had supplied the hospital with a modern Microscope which came handy and made the surgery easier.
The team of doctors led by Bibhuti Nayak took around three hours for the surgery. The transplanted finger will start working after one week of the surgery. After complete recovery, the new finger will be able to do 80 per cent of the jobs of a thumb.
It is worth mentioning that SCB Medical College and Hospital recently successfully conducted a rare cadaveric kidney transplant surgery February 3.
PNN