A man has reportedly had the use of his hand restored by doctors who grafted it onto his ankle for a month.
Surgeons are thought to have performed the groundbreaking operation after the man's hand was completely severed by a spinning blade machine in an industrial accident in China.
His left arm was so badly damaged that doctors in Changsha in the Hunan Province concluded extra time was needed to allow tendons and nerves to heal, People's Daily, China reported.
And as any delay would have resulted in the man, named only as Mr Zhou, losing his hand, doctors are said to have grafted it to his ankle to stop it from "dying".
Dr Tang Juyu, of Xiangya Hospital where the surgery was performed, said: "Under normal temperatures, a severed finger needs to resume blood supply within 10 hours, but that time is even shorter for a separated limb."
“If a limb is short of blood for too long, its tissues die and it will be unsalvageable.”
The hand was reportedly then re-attached to the left arm in a separate operation said to have lasted 10 hours.
Mr Zhou is now said to have regained some movement in his fingers but is not yet able to enjoy full use of his hand.
