He was “under the knife” for about 12 hours, but when he came out of the operating room he had his thumb and big toe back. The operation to which a man, who had lost two fingers due to an accident, underwent in the plastic and reconstructive surgery department of the Polyclinic directed by Professor Adriana Cordova, was successfully concluded. After eight days of hospitalization the patient returned home to begin the rehabilitation process.
Three months after the trauma, the team led by plastic surgeon Pierfrancesco Pugliese (made up of doctor Mara Franza and the specialists Fernando Rosatti, Mariangela Vulpetti, Chiara Canfora and Matilde De Masi) performed the complete reconstruction of the thumb using an autotransplant of the big toe which, in turn, was reconstructed (bone and skin) with another microsurgical procedure, thus guaranteeing the man to maintain the anatomical-aesthetic integrity of the foot. During the long procedure the patient was monitored and followed by anesthetists Marta Montalbano and Roberto Cusimano. “It is a great success for all of us and for the Polyclinic”, comments Professor Cordova.
“I congratulate the whole team”, declares Maria Grazia Furnari, general director of the Polyclinic. “In our company, characterized by the inseparability between assistance, training and research, the combination of advanced surgical skills and cutting-edge technologies continues to push the boundaries – he continues – of what is possible, offering increasingly effective solutions for improving quality of life of patients”. Reconstruction of the fingers by autotransplantation from the foot is a widespread technique that has been consolidated for several years and can restore the functionality of the hand.
“As good as they are – explains Pugliese – the prostheses cannot replace a real toe. The autotransplant of the toe from the foot is the most complex and advanced technique that exists in this field but above all in our country it is difficult to accept due to the mutilation of the foot Having found a way to restore the anatomy of the foot at the same time as surgery can give all those ‘undecided’ patients the strength to undertake a process of restoring their hand anatomy.”
“All the medical and nursing staff of the complex plastic surgery unit – concludes Pugliese – contributed in a fundamental way to the success of the procedure, the prognosis of which is normally reserved until 7 days later”.
