3.5 hours later, right thumb, severed in chopper attack, reaches SSKM 28 km away, replanted on Uttarpara man in a 10-hour surgery
Times of India | 8 July 2026
Kolkata: An Uttarpara resident, who lost his right thumb in an alleged chopper attack, got it surgically reconstructed, thanks to the efforts of the doctors at SSKM Hospital.
Plastic and reconstructive surgery doctors at the govt-run hospital managed to replant the thumb, severed right from the base of the 48-year-old man’s hand, through a complex microsurgical procedure. Seven days after the surgery, the patient is recovering well, with no signs of graft rejection.
The victim suffered the attack and the consequent amputation of his right thumb in the evening of July 1, around 8 pm. He was brought to the state-run medical institute around 11.30 pm and admitted to the Trauma Care Centre. His relatives had the right sense of bringing along the amputated thumb, properly preserved in an ice bag, an act, which doctors said, played an important role in improving the chances of a successful replantation.
After a quick clinical assessment and emergency investigations, the plastic surgery team began bench dissection of the amputated thumb around 12.30 am. After identifying suitable vessels for microvascular repair, doctors carried out recipient-site dissection under local anaesthesia in the presence of the anaesthesia team.
The amputated thumb was first stabilised with K-wire fixation at the metacarpophalangeal joint. This was followed by microsurgical reconstruction. The surgeons successfully performed one arterial and two venous microvascular anastomoses, restoring blood flow to the thumb.
The surgery lasted around 10 hours and ended only around 10 am the next morning.
The procedure was carried out by a team, led by Arindam Sarkar, head of the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery, and included doctors Manoranjan Sow, Dhritasree Mondal, Abhik Chowdhury, Camelia Pal and Agniban Chakraborty. A doctor said the replanted thumb was now viable and had satisfactory blood circulation. They have kept the patient under close postoperative observation.
“Thumb replantation is among the most technically demanding procedures in reconstructive microsurgery. As the thumb contributes nearly 40% of overall hand function, successful replantation offers the patient the best opportunity to regain pinch, grip strength and hand dexterity, thereby significantly improving long-term quality of life. This patient will undergo a structured rehabilitation programme, including physiotherapy and sensory re-education, to maximise functional recovery,” said a doctor.
The Trauma Care Centre at SSKM Hospital is the only level-one trauma care centre in Bengal, where senior faculty members are available round the clock to perform such emergency surgeries. Experts said replantation of a severed limb should ideally be done within six to eight hours for the best result. “Also in this case, those accompanying the patient preserved the severed thumb in an appropriate way, making it viable for the replantation. Such awareness is very important. This surgery would have cost a few lakhs in private facilities. We want people to know that we have this facility at SSKM Hospital and the procedure is free of cost here,” said a senior faculty member of the department.