It was Monday, February 14, 2022, when the Lower Austrian was admitted to the Linz University Hospital with a serious hand injury. He had been working with the excavator that day when the shovel suddenly came loose while wrapping. From the wrist, the entire metacarpus and all fingers were broken. Tendons, vessels and nerves were crushed or torn. It was an extremely difficult starting position for trauma and microsurgeons Michael Pollak and Andreas Kastner. After a nine-hour surgical marathon, they managed – also thanks to the help of the nursing team – to save the 38-year-old’s hand.
More surgeries needed
Three months have now passed and the patient from Waidhofen an der Ybbs can again look to the future with confidence. The hand is “excellent” supplied with blood, the bones have healed stably and the wound healing is almost complete. “Fortunately, no infection has developed,” said Michael Pollak. The fingers are still limited in their movement at the moment, but the two doctors are optimistic: “This can be improved in a few months with reconstructive operations.”
Source: Nachrichten
