MUMBAI: Besides performing a microsurgery that could only be done in a super-speciality hospital, a Boisar-based orthopaedic surgeon used sheer presence of mind to save the nearly severed hand of a labourer after it was almost sliced off by a saw machine.

Since he had never handled such a case, Dr Jitendra Patil, who owns a hospital in Boisar, immediately called up his mentor. Dr Hemant Patankar, orthopaedic head of department at Ghatkopar's Rajawadi Hospital, directed him on how to go about the delicate operation going by photographs and details of the wound that Dr Patil sent him via smartphone messenger WhatsApp .

Tilak Ram, 20, a construction worker was cutting wooden planks with an electric saw machine on Wednesday afternoon, when his left hand accidentally came in contact with the blade. His colleagues were transfixed with horror as Ram shrieked with pain while his hand dangled by a strip of flesh from his wrist.

Not knowing what to do, some of the other workers tried to bandage Ram's hand, but the civil contractor present at the site told them to rush him to the nearest hospital.

Ram was taken to Dr Patil's Sai Leela Hospital. "I was shocked to find that nearly 90 per cent of the hand had been sliced off the wrist and there was only 10 per cent blood left in the hand. I have done scores of leg fractures and other routine surgeries, but hadn't repaired a severed hand before. Such operations are usually done in a big city hospital equipped with the necessary instruments," he said.

However, a three-hour trip to the city would have led in more blood loss and an inevitable amputation. Dr Patil tried to contact two Mumbai-based orthopaedic surgeons for the surgery, but they declined due to short notice.

Dr Patil then got in touch with Dr Patankar, who had mentored him during his initial years. "Dr Patankar first told me to send him images of the hand and a brief about the patient's condition. I did so, and in the meantime administered painkillers and medicines to stop the bleeding," he said.

Keeping his teacher's instructions in mind, Dr Patil began the crucial 10-hourlong surgery. "In our medical parlance, such an operation is called a Hand salvaging surgery. During such operations, the presence of plastic and vascular surgeons is most vital, and in Boisar, no such specialists are available. Despite this, Dr Patankar told me to carry on," said Dr Patil.

While the nursing staff wheeled Ram into the operation theatre, anaesthetist Dr Rajesh Trimukhe rushed to spot to prep the patient.

During the operation, Dr Patil slowly restructured the hand from vital median nerves, around 18 tendons (fibrous tissue that connects muscle to bone), and the radial artery (a major artery which supplies blood), which had been severed. "I had to see to it that the 10 per cent blood flow must be maintained, or else there would have been clotting and the hand would have to be amputated," said Dr Patil.

Miraculously, after the ordeal, a pulse oximeter (which monitors a patient's pulse rate) indicated blood circulation in the restructured left hand, a healthy sign, said Dr Patil.

When Mirror contacted Dr Patankar, he said, "I am proud of my student, who did a magnificent job. Dr Patil was working under me as an orthopaedic registrar in Rajawadi Hospital a few years ago.

Thanks to his timely thinking and the use of cell phones, the patient's hand has been saved. I just guided Dr Patil. In such situations, it is only the doctor's skill that could have achieved this."

Ram needs to stay in the hospital for at least a week, but cannot believe that he has got not only his hand, but also his livelihood back. "I have not told my parents who stay in UP, I didn't want to scare them. I am grateful to Dr Patil for saving my hand, and my employer who has agreed to pay for my medical expenses."