At a hospital in China, doctors took a very different approach to reattaching an amputated hand. Xiao Wei lost his right hand in an industrial accident, and his arm was severely compromised during the same accident. The dilemma that doctors faced was two-fold; saving the right hand and dealing with severe trauma to the rest of Wei’s arm. Their approach to salvaging his hand was to attach it to his ankle so the arteries and veins in the ankle would continue to supply blood to it. A month later, after his arm injuries healed and blood supply was sufficient, Xiao’s right hand was reattached to his arm. He is expected to regain full use of his hand.
