A 14-year-old girl whose right hand was severed by a knife in a brutal gang attack in Chiang Mai last month has returned home after successful reattachment surgery.
The attack took place in Muang Chiang Mai district on Sept 16, when a gang seriously injured three students, including the girl who lost her hand.
Two days later, police arrested and charged 15 suspects. One of them, a Myanmar national, confessed they had mistaken the girl for their male target as she was wearing a hoodie.
The girl was rushed to the Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital of Chiang Mai University. She was seriously weakened by blood loss from her wound.
However, after nearly 20 hours of surgery, her hand was successfully reattached. Praise poured in on social media for the team of surgeons for their specialist skills.
A medical report revealed that the operation had restored 90% of the important parts of the hand, including 21 tendons, six nerves, an artery and three veins. The patient had extensive flap motoring treatment during her stay at the hospital.
Flap surgery involves moving a section of healthy tissue from a donor site to repair a wound. A flap carries its own blood supply and may include skin, fat, muscle and nerves. ‘Motoring’ refers to the goal of restoring motor function, or muscle movement, to the hand.
On Tuesday there was more good news when doctors reported that that girl had recovered well and had been discharged from the hospital on Friday after receiving treatment for 24 days.
‘The reattached hand has good blood circulation, with no signs of tissue death or infection,’ Dr Narain Chotirosniramit, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, said in a statement. ‘The wound is dry and the patient has entered the rehabilitation phase through therapy.’
She was able to move some finger joints though full sensation has not yet returned, which is normal at the early stage of the recovery process.
The girl’s mental health has also improved under close care of child psychiatrists, Dr Narain said.