Microsurgeons of the Irkutsk Regional Hospital performed a unique operation

Irkutsk microsurgeons saved a young man's hand after a severe injury using an unusual plate usually used in maxillofacial surgery. The new method made it possible to do one operation instead of three, restore nerves, arteries and tendons, and preserve the patient's ability to work in the future.

Doctors saved the young man’s hand and gave him the opportunity to work in the future. Microsurgeons at the Irkutsk Regional Hospital performed a highly complex operation on a patient who injured his hand. Under different circumstances, he could have been left disabled. But nanotechnology came into play.
The man was working with a drill, got distracted, and instead of wood the tool went into his hand. He says it was painful, but he did not immediately realize how serious it was. “At first I didn’t understand that it was something serious, then we drove over, had an X-ray done, and realized that it was a fracture,” recalls Nikolai Dik, the patient.
Usually such cases are treated over the course of several weeks. Rehabilitation then takes several more months. But this time the microsurgeons used a new method. They placed a plate in the hand, managed with one operation instead of three, and restored the function of the nerves, arteries, and tendons. Recently in America, using the same kind of plate, a boy had both hands reattached. This proves that the technologies used in Irkutsk are at least on par with global standards, or even ahead of them in some respects.
“In this particular case, a plate was used that is applied in maxillofacial surgery for reconstruction of the facial skeleton. It is small, 7–9 times smaller than the classic plates used for bone osteosynthesis. Therefore, in this case, an attempt was made to use exactly this plate,” explains Denis Kornilov, a doctor in the microsurgery and hand surgery department of the Irkutsk Regional Clinical Hospital.
The metal from which the plate is made is so thin that Nikolai Dik will be able to pass freely through metal detectors. He says he does not feel it at all in his hand and is already ready to get back to work.