Recently we read in the newspapers that healthy organs obtained from two brain dead youth were transplanted successfully, giving a new lease of life to several other patients.
Now comes the news of a life-saving surgery carried out at the Kegalle Base Hospital recently to reattach a severed hand onto a young woman who had lost it during a personal dispute with a relative who had hacked it off with a machete.
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| Dr. Ananda Jayawardena is a specialist at the Kegalle General Hospital |
The victim was identified as Naduni Anjalika, a 21-year-old undergraduate from Nilpalagammana, Kegalle. Six months ago, Ajalika had joined a garment factory to earn a living due to the financial difficulties at home. On April 4, she had been returning home when she was attacked. The time was around 7.15 p.m.
Plot of land
According to her brother Udara Chathuranga, the incident was a result of a personal dispute over a plot of land between their father and uncle. “It happened a few days before the incident. My father has cultivated banana on a land near my uncle’s house. The argument was over him taking part of the harvest without informing us. We lodged a complaint with the Police but nothing came out of it. My father was injured after my uncle threw a stone at him. After that incident my father would often scold my uncle out loud,” he said.
Chathuranga said on the day of the incident, he had set out to accompany his sister back home. “On the way I went to my uncle’s house to discuss the issue with him amicably. My uncle came out of the house, shouting and with a wooden pole in hand.
Hearing the commotion my father and other sister also came running there. My uncle then brought a machete from inside the house and took a swipe at my sister but I pulled her away. During this time Anjalika also arrived on the scene. He took a swipe at her as well. Her hand was severed and just fell to the ground,” he said recalling the horrific incident.
Anjalika was rushed to the Kegalle Hospital with her dismembered hand where a four-hour surgery was carried out by Dr. Ananda Jayawardena and his team to reattach it.
Litres of blood
Anjalika had lost a significant amount of blood, making it necessary for her to receive several litres of blood through transfusion. Next the doctors set out to reattach her hand in a complex surgery. “We accepted the challenge and were able to complete it successfully,” he said.
“It is important to reattach the body part as soon as possible. The hand must also be kept at the position it was found in when the surgery is conducted,” he said. Dr Jayawardena said the hand will take nearly a month to be reattached successfully and the screws added externally during the surgery can be removed thereafter. The doctor recalled that Anjalika was in shock when brought to hospital. He highlighted that a dismembered body part must be reattached within six hours but more time can be taken if it is packed and brought to hospital in the correct manner. According to the doctor, bringing the body part as it is or packed directly in ice is incorrect.
A dismembered body part must first be washed and cleaned in flowing water or tap. Next it must be wrapped loosely in a wet piece of cloth. The wrapped body part must then be put into a polythene cover which has had its air let out and tied up. After this the bag must be inserted into another bag or vessel filled with ice. “But at no point must the dismembered body part come into contact with the ice” he said.
He also said tightening the body over the cut to stop the blood flow can damage the area and cause issues during the surgery. A patient must be brought to hospital within one hour and in a resting position, he added. Dr Jayawardana was assisted by a team of experts including Anesthesiologist Dr. Krishan Rupasinghe, Specialist Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Nihal Fernando.
Suspect remanded
Anjalika’s uncle, 50-year-old Prabath Neville Samarasinghe has been arrested by the Kegalle police and remanded till April 19. Investigations are continuing into the incident.
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| Naduni’s home |