Mexico's General Hospital "Eduardo Liceaga" (MGH)*, successfully performed a bilateral reimplantation of hands in a 54-year-old carpenter, who suffered a traumatic amputation caused by a chainsaw. This hospital is part of the National Hospitals and Medical Institutes Network in Mexico, which belongs to Mexico´s Ministry of Health, leaded by Doctor Mercedes Juan.
At a press conference, conceded by the director of this hospital, Doctor César Athié Gutiérrez; the Chief of Plastic Surgery, Doctor Raymundo Priego Blancas, and Doctor Anabel Martínez Villanueva, assigned to the medical service of the hospital, they reported that the surgery took place last June 3rd, 2015.
César Athié announced this success because the clinical team was waiting for the patient to avance with his rehabilitation and to have a stable emotional condition. Doctor Priego Blanco explained that Mr. Alberto Sanchez Garay (patient) arrived to the MGH on may 9th, 2015.
The interdisciplinary group of surgeons valued the patient and determined that the amputees limbs were in good condition for a reimplantation, so was planned the surgery 31 days after the accident.
Raymundo Priego reported that the surgery, which lasted 10 hours, simultaneously involved two teams of specialists, who, through microsurgical procedures, restored the function of bones, tendons, arteries, veins and tissue. He stressed that the MGH is at the forefront of this type of interventions.
He also said that during the past 30 years the hospital has performed surgeries with microsurgical reimplantation, becoming a reference center in this field.
During her speech, doctor Anabel Martínez Villanueva, assigned to the Department of Plastic Surgery and who participated in the intervention, said that the patient's recovery has required comprehensive care with specialists in orthopedics, psychology, rehabilitation and nutrition areas.
She said that the rehabilitation process can take up two years. Currently, Mr. Alberto Sanchez Garay, who has been operated seven months ago, has reached fundamental advances as the mobility of his fingers.
For its part, the general director of MGH, Cesar Athie Gutierrez, said that the success of this surgery was due to the proper conservation of the amputees limbs, plus the way in which they were mutilated, facilitated the work of surgeons to make the different connections.
He recommended to people that before any accident of this kind, the first thing to do is wrap the amputated limb in a clean damp cloth, place it in a plastic bag and keep it in a container with ice, then go as soon as possible to a medical institution.
He said that such accidents occurs mainly at industrial areas, but are also common in the pediatric population due the handling of rockets and explosives used in festivities.
Finally, he pointed that the patient will remain under medical supervision until he completes his recovery.
Mexico's General Hospital "Eduardo Liceaga" is the largest hospital in Latin America, as it has 1 thousand 2 hundred beds and performs over 45,000 surgeries annually.
As additional information, earlier this year, Mexico's General Hospital started works its new Surgical Tower, which is one of the most modern and equipped medical area in the country, where services of general surgery, transplants, short-stay surgery gastrointestinal endoscopy, intensive and intermediate care, are offered.
This hospital has 15 operating rooms, and the first Hybrid Operating Room in Mexico and Latin America. The team is highly innovative, with European, German and Polish technology.
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