Leg Proves Handy Solution for Chinese Man After His Arm was Severed

The damage was too severe to re-attach the hand immediately, so surgeons in the provincial capital Changsha grafted it onto his lower leg, just above his Achilles tendon, to keep it alive while the healing process began.

Severed limbs can be saved if their blood supply is restored within several hours of their amputation, depending on the circumstances.

Earlier this month, doctors removed the hand and successfully reattached it to Xiao Wei's arm in a nine-hour operation, said the newspaper.

He will have to go through several further operations and rehabilitation therapy to restore the limb's function, it added.

"It's just like building a house," the paper quoted Tang Juyu, Xiao Wei's primary doctor, as saying. "Currently the main body is established. There will have to be interior decorations in the future."

Source: AFP