How Toe Became Thumb For This Afghan Student Who Lost Fingers In Terror Attack

Updated on: 30 August 2017 7:05 pm

A 22-year-old Afghan student who lost his fingers in a terror attack in his country two years ago has undergone a successful thumb transplant at a hospital in Noida. The doctors here undertook a seven-hour long transplant surgery to reconstruct his right thumb using his toe.

Irfaan-ul-lah lost his thumb and three fingers on the right hand in a bomb blast in Kabul two years ago leaving only an index finger on that hand. After he failed to get relief from hospitals in neighbouring Pakistan, he decided to come to India and approached the Jaypee Hospital at Noida Sector 128 on July 31.

A team of doctors from the hospital’s plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery departments joined his treatment. They used the second toe of his left foot and transplanted it on his right hand as a thumb, said an official statement by the hospital.

A happy Irfaan left for Kabul on August 27.

Explaining the process, Dr. Saurabh Gupta, Consultant, Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Jaypee Hospital, said, “In the first stage, the patient's hand was assessed to find out to what extent the loss of structures such as bones, joints, tendons, arteries and veins have happened. Then, the team mutually decided to implant the second toe of his left foot to his right hand giving it a structure of a thumb. We measured the length of the patient’s thumb and according to its size and structures damaged we cut the second toe of his left foot and implanted it in place of his lost thumb. We had to be really careful while removing the second toe from his foot making sure that all other structures such as joints, ligaments and the arteries are absolutely fine and functional after the surgery.”

Dr. Saurabh Gupta, Consultant, Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery said, “After the surgery, Irfaan-ul-lah is now capable of holding any object with his right hand and performing the routine activities. In the next stage, one more finger will be implanted in the same hand so that the patient is able to perform all the tasks with his three fingers and lead a normal life.”