HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO QUICKLY RESTORE BLOOD FLOW TO A DAMAGED/SEVERED FINGER?

[dallen47]

I was involved in a "degloving" accident, which left my left index barely hanging on. Again, it wasn't COMPLETELY severed, but there was very little flesh holding it together. When I got to the ER, they cleaned it up, and just put in 3 or 4 stitches to hold it together. They sent me home, and brought me in the following morning for surgery to reattach blood vessels and such. Three days later, my finger was amputated as there was no blood flow or feeling. When I told other what happened, they seemed shocked that the surgery hadn't been done almost immediately in the ER, and said I may have a malpractice case against the hospital. They say that, had the surgery been done sooner, and blood flow restored sooner, I MAY have been able to keep my finger. Any thoughts?

[akule76]

Yes they should have acted immediately your fingers are very important to you! You use them as identification, writing and opening jars haha! But yeah that is very bad practice of them.. Tell them you want a refund!

[demarco]

According to most Orthopedists, you have up to 12 hours to reattach a severed finger. However, apparently, you can even go a couple of days if the finger is kept in the right condition, is clean, etc. Since you had an incomplete amputation, with some blood flow probably maintained in the bit still holding the finger on, longer is most likely expected to be okay. Ideally, according to a couple of sites I read, reattachment within 6 hours is best. Reattachment is always an unreliable surgery, though. Even if done within just a couple of hours. I'm not sure how much you have for a lawsuit, but do a lot of research before spending money on lawyers for this.