Leicester surgeon deploys wartime technique to save man's hand

Martin Shaw described the work to save his hand as "unbelievable"

Surgeons have saved a car crash victim's hand by attaching it to his abdomen for several weeks.

Martin Shaw, from Leicester, suffered severe injuries to his right hand and forearm in the crash on 9 September.

To save his hand, surgeons employed a wartime skin grafting technique known as a pedicled flap, which involved attaching it to his abdomen to help the skin tissue heal.

Mr Shaw said he had now been nicknamed Frankenstein by his children.

Warning: distressing image below

The 35-year-old, who spent four weeks with his hand attached to his abdomen, is still recovering at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

"What happened after the car stopped is a bit of a blur but I remember seeing my arm and thinking 'that's it, I've lost it'," he recalled.

"I couldn't really take it in as what they planned to do was explained to me, but I was willing to try anything to save my hand and arm."

'Strange feeling'

Plastic surgeon Nakul Patel said he opened a patch of skin across Mr Shaw's abdomen and attached it to his thumb and hand to enable healthy skin to cover his fractures and exposed wounds.

It will stay that way for a further week before a further operation takes place to release the hand and close up the abdomen.

"This is a technique that has been around for a long, long time and was certainly popularised in the World Wars," said Dr Patel.

"We don't have to do it very often in this modern day but there are exceptional circumstances such as this one and we wanted to do everything possible to save his hand."

Mr Shaw's hand will be detached from his abdomen next week

"It's a very strange feeling," said Mr Shaw.

"I'm lucky we have these techniques. It's unbelievable I've come out of this and will still have my hand."

Dr Patel warned Mr Shaw faced "a long journey" of rehab to regain full use of his hand and fingers once his muscles and tendons had repaired.

Dr Nakul Patel said the technique was used in "exceptional circumstances"

Meanwhile Mr Shaw revealed his four children had nicknamed him Frankenstein just in time for Halloween.

"My kids couldn't believe it when they saw it - they said it looked like something from the Halloween aisle," he added.

"So I don't need to get a costume this year."

Mr Shaw said he was looking forward to having a stretch once his hand is free again.

"I have been wanting to have a big stretch like you do when you wake up in the morning - so I'm looking forward to that more than anything," he said.