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Thread: Can fingers be reattached?

  1. #16
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    Jun 2008
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    I’ve heard it cost about 10 thousand dollars to re attach a finger or a phalange. I would throw in the trash and get back to work. I can get plenty done with 8 or 9 phalanges.
    Aj

  2. #17
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    Feb 2009
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    Cedar Park, TX - Boulder Creek, CA
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    We had a guy lose all 4 at the base in a press. Crushed, absolutely. Foreman had to scrape bone fragments off the tool before starting the job up again. One of those days I was glad to be bitched out for coming in late.

    I think they managed to reattach all, but ultimately only 2 or 3 took.

  3. #18
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    Sep 2013
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    Wayland, MA
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    Put it in a baggie with ice and take it to the ER with you (not kidding). If they don't have it there's no chance. I've heard of multiple incidences of successful reattachments after several hours if the digit is kept cold. If you have a choice go for a clean cut rather than a crush.

  4. #19
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    Feb 2016
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    Quote Originally Posted by Travis Conner View Post
    Did some research on what to do if you end up losing a finger. Sounds like when the body part is contaminated it can't be re attached. I wonder if saw dust counts as contamination.
    If it's reasonably cleanly severed, contamination won't typically prevent reattachment. Mangling the digit will - so crush injuries, e.g., or any sort of tool like a jointer that makes hamburger out of your digit, will end your chances to play piano again. I've got a hand surgeon friend at work who has done dozens at least of digit reattachments. Sawdust wouldn't have phased him. Sawdust is pretty clean stuff. He's reattached fingers rescued from the dung channel of a dairy barn.

    The key if you are unfortunate enough to have to deal with this is to get the severed member in a bag and cool (on ice, not in water and definitely not frozen) and then get the hell to an ER and demand a fully board certified hand surgeon as quickly as is safely possible.

    And, if you're a smoker, you either have officially kicked the nicotine habit at that point, cold turkey, or you won't get your digit reattached. If you backslide, the finger is dead meat, literally. I know of one patient who had three fingers successfully reattached after a circular saw screw-up, and four days into his recovery snuck out for a cigarette. His fingers were dead the next morning, and had to be removed. Nicotine is a very aggressive vasoconstrictor, and will completely cut off circulation to the recovering reattached digit.

  5. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Brad Shipton View Post
    I think is one of those questions where the answer is, It depends. Sometimes yes, others, no. Best have some good rules around the big machines.
    Sounds the most accurate to me. Was at a shop a while back where kid (was pretty much shop foreman) late evening, blasting out some last minute small parts (recipe for disaster) on a big TS blew off index, middle, and ring, in one fell swoop. As I recall one landed on the saw table, another was found a ways behind the saw, and another a bit infront of the saw. When I was there he held up the hand sans the three fingers. They had been packed in ice and were reattached but three weeks later all turned black and had to be taken back off and now its thumb and pinky only.

    Having been in this business pretty much most of my adult life and full time shop for long, I pretty much turned white and almost fainted just hearing the story, not so much for him or myself but for the shop owner.

  6. #21
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    The longest case I ever did was a 9 digit replantation. Took 32 hours. Became like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. When the surgeon was done with the 9th, he'd go back to the first and have to revise things.

    Not sure how many successfully took, much less sensation and motor function returning.

    30 something years later, still never had an operation go longer than that one.

    And yes, I have seen multiple digits reattached, and multiple ones unable to be reattached. The answer, as said above, it that it depends.
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  7. #22
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    Jul 2007
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    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
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    Many years back I did some woodwork on the local hand surgeons yacht' he told me that he likes woodworkers, said that we pay the mortgage on his house and the payments on his boat. The first day that I went to the yacht club to see his boat, was the day after he had pulled an all-nighter re-attaching some guys severed hand. He received a big round of applause when we walked into the clubhouse.

  8. #23
    I worked with a guy who lost a thumb to a tablesaw. It was reattached and had full function. Soon after, he lost the other thumb to the same saw. This time out was too mangled for reattaching. He ended up getting his big toe transplant in order to replace that thumb. I like to joke About how he lose two thumbs and a big toe to the same machine. He ended up going into physical therapy after spending g sip much time there.

  9. #24
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    Oct 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Lightstone View Post
    The longest case I ever did was a 9 digit replantation. Took 32 hours. Became like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. When the surgeon was done with the 9th, he'd go back to the first and have to revise things.
    How the heck does a surgeon manage to still be awake after 32 hours in an operating room? I would think that a hand surgeon needs to be fairly precise which becomes hard after being awake for more than a day straight.

  10. #25
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    Sep 2016
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    Modesto, CA, USA
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    I have heard that one trick to keep the blood flowing is to attach leaches to the fingertip to suck out the backed up blood. This relieves the back pressure and allows a better flow of fresh oxygenated blood into the extremities. Maggots are also used since they will eat only rotting flesh and not good meat with adequate blood flow.
    Bill D

  11. #26
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    Jan 2010
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    How about me (the anesthesiologist) staying awake?

    The running joke was that an endotracheal tube is a piece of plastic with someone half awake on both ends,

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
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    Fairbanks AK
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    Something about an ounce of prevention....

    I heard a story once about a guy who lost a finger to a saw - and his dog ate the severed digit. So the guy shot his dog, recovered the now acid washed part and was told at the ER because of the dog's stomach acid the digit could not be reattached. So he lost a finger and a dog same day. Dunno if it is true or not, sounds like a good reason to invest in a poundof prevention.

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Travis Conner View Post
    Did some research on what to do if you end up losing a finger. Sounds like when the body part is contaminated it can't be re attached. I wonder if saw dust counts as contamination.
    If you aren't too squeamish, look up the story of John Wayne Bobbitt.

    That should answer your question about being contaminated with sawdust.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  14. #29
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    Jul 2007
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    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
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    I know of maybe five or six people that lost fingers in the workshop, don't know any that had them re-attached.

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Houston, TX
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    437
    It's nice to know what to do if it happens, things still can go wrong no matter how many safety books you read. Nobody wakes up and says i'm going to cut my finger off today.

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