Man's hand placed in stomach in radical 'tummy tuck'
WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
An 87-year-old man has undergone ‘sci-fi’ surgery to save his badly-burned hand.
Frank Reyes, from the United States, was at home alone in June when he crushed his hand while trying to change a tire on a trailer.
Doctors initially adopted a conservative approach to his treatment, cleaning out and bandaging the wound.
But after it became infected, Doctors proposed a radical solution.
They wanted to remove Mr Reye’s hand and place it inside his stomach for three weeks to allow it time to heal and form a new blood supply.
“I thought it was more or less something out of a sci-fi movie. It sounded crazy," Mr Reye’s granddaughter Casey said.
She explained to her grandfather “they're gonna put your hand inside your stomach, kind of like a hoodie.”
The surgery was performed by plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Echo at Houston Methodist Hospital.
In a delicate operation, Echo removed Mr Reyes hand and surgically tucked it under skin on his stomach.
"It's a funny feeling," Mr Reyes said in an interview after the procedure.
"Anything to get me well."
On Thursday, Echo removed Mr Reye’s hand and reattached it to his arm.
He then used some of his abdominal tissue and skin to cover the wound on his stomach.
Mr Reye’s is expected to make a full recovery and says he’s looking forward to being released from hospital.
"The main thing I want to do is raise cattle, ride horses," he said.
"I'm an outdoors person" who doesn't like being cooped up.
