Surgeons save man’s hand by attaching it to his groin for two weeks

A man who was involved in an accident with an electric saw has regained the use of his hand – after surgeons attached it to his groin for two weeks.

Anthony Lelliott underwent 17 hours of surgery following the incident, which happened when he was chopping floorboards with a chop saw.

The 46-year-old suffered a double-level amputation and almost completely cut off his hand in two places.

But doctors at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London, were able to help him regain the use of his hand through unusual means.

They attached it to his groin for two weeks to help the skin grow back.

Consultant plastic surgeon Roger Adlard was on call when Mr Lelliott turned up at the hospital.

He described the injury as “probably the most complex amputation” he has ever dealt with.

“There are many surgeons who, once they’d seen that level of injury, would think it was unsalvageable,” Mr Adlard said.

Mr Lelliott’s hand was almost completely severed at the base of his palm and just below his fingers.

The carpenter, from Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, said he lost a lot of blood at the scene and remembers little of the incident itself.

He said: “I don’t know whether it was my brain playing tricks on me, but it was like an out of body experience; I could see myself what I’d done.

“There was blood spurting out everywhere.”

Firstly, the doctors fixed his broken bones.

Then, they harvested nerve and vein grafts from his forearm and foot respectively, with these used to bridge gaps across his wounds.

After working overnight to carry out the operation which saved Mr Lelliott’s hand, doctors noticed that his middle finger lacked bone stability or feeling and opted to sacrifice it and use the bone and skin to help reconstruct his palm.

But there was still not enough skin to cover his palm, so doctors cut a flap of skin in his groin and sewed his hand to it, leaving it there for two weeks.

They cut it free once the skin from his groin had grown new roots to where it had transferred to Mr Lelliott’s hand.

He has since regained some movement and feeling in his hand, following work with therapists.

Mr Lelliott praised the hospital, saying he had received “fantastic” care.

He added: “Words can’t describe it because I was expecting to wake up without a hand.

“It’s unbelievable really, I’m so grateful.”

(c) Sky News 2019: Surgeons save man’s hand by attaching it to his groin for two weeks