Surgeons save Brazilian man's hand by sewing it into his stomach

Surgeons have helped save a Brazilian man’s hand
from being amputated by putting it inside a 'pocket'
in his stomach.
Carlos Mariotti, 42, who's a machine production
operator suffered a horrific work accident that
peeled off all the skin on his hand.
Mr Mariotti was operating a machine that
manufactures coils at a plastic factory, when his
hand was dragged into the heavy duty equipment.
He said it was like watching a movie play out in front
of him when he saw the machine pulling his hand in
and he couldn’t do anything stop it from happening.
He said he started screaming but when his
colleagues did not immediately respond to his
screams, he wrenched his hand out of the machine
himself.
Shortly after he pulled his hand out,he colleagues
came running and tried to save the hand by
wrapping it tightly in bandages.
Fortunately, Doctors were able to save his hand by
putting it inside his abdomen and covered it with a
flap of protective skin.
Marriotti now has to keep his damaged hand inside
the soft tissue pouch for six weeks.
Orthopaedic and traumatology doctor, Boris
Brandao, who performed the rare surgery said:
"Mr Marriotti suffered a de-gloving injury
which left him with very little skin on the palm
and back of his hand, exposing the bones and
tendons inside.
“This was a very large and delicate injury and
the only place we could fit the whole hand was
in the abdomen. Without this procedure,
there would be a high risk of infection and the
tissue and tendons would rot away,” Dr
Brandao said.
Mr Mariotti who is still recovering in the hospital
said:
“I still get very emotional when I think about
the accident. But it was only when doctors told
me I could lose my hand that I realised the
gravity of the situation.
“When I woke up from the operation I didn’t
know whether it was still there. I couldn’t
believe it when they said they had tucked my
hand inside me.”
“It’s a really weird feeling trying to wiggle my
fingers inside my body and creepy seeing my
tummy protrude slightly as I prod around,” Mr
Mariotti said.
Mariotti lost two fingers of his right fingers- his
index and middle fingers - in the accident.
He added:
“I am just so grateful because at least I will
still be able to hold a fork, grip a steering
wheel and dress myself without any help.”
Dr Brandao said medics decided to perform an
immediate “salvaging” procedure because “if we can
save a hand we always try to find a way to do so.”
He explained:
“In order to keep the wounded hand alive, we
opened the abdomen, took off the skin and
put it inside the cavity to protect it. The
patient’s hand must stay in the pocket for
about 42 days to ensure it develops new tissue
and tendon material which is capable of
receiving a replanted skin graft.”
"Mr Mariotti will suffer impaired function as
he will not get all the movement back in his
hand.
“But he will have a working hand and will be
able to do the pincer movement. At least this
is a better quality of life compared to having
an amputated hand,” he said.
Source: The Independent