An Italian man may regain the use of his hands after undergoing a new type of medical surgery.
Doctors in northern Italy said: surgery Partially exploited men’s nerves disconnected Repair the leg to repair the damaged nerve in the hand.his hands look like this paralyzed After a serious driving accident.
Surgeons at the Turin Municipal Hospital removed part of the sciatic nerve from the man’s leg. It is a nerve that helps control the movement of the legs.group of doctors transferred Part of the male sciatic nerve to the brachial plexus. It is a network of nerves that connect the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm, and hand.
“This is the first time someone has done something like this. [has transferred] be component It caused damage from the sciatic nerve to the brachial plexus,” Paolo Titolo said. He was one of the surgeons who performed the operation and recently told Reuters news agency.
The patient is Marcello Gavilio, a 55-year-old medical worker. He was hit by a motorbike five months ago and half of his left leg was amputated. The accident occurred while he was commuting to work on a small motorized bicycle called a moped.
He suffered severe injuries not only to his leg but also to his brachial plexus. There was damage to his upper body and he lost the use of his hands.
Since the part of the sciatic nerve that controls the left leg was no longer needed, it could be transferred to the shoulder part. Doctors performed the surgery on December 21st. They hope this will allow him to use his left hand.
Gaviglio will need special care for about five months after the surgery. For now, he still cannot move his hands at all.
Nerve transplant surgery is not new. But it usually does not involve moving the nerves that control the feet to the areas that control the hands. That’s why the doctors who perform the surgery call it this.pioneering”
“We think this is a pioneering surgery because if it works, it means the brain will function normally.” plasticity It can control other parts of the body that we didn’t expect,” Titolo said. He added that the surgery opens up a new field of neurological research.
The aim is to restore “some kind of grip strength” to the hands. That is, the ability to hold things. Titolo explained that this could help other hands do things.
This surgery was the result of four years of research.Published in a medical journal injury.
Patient Gaviglio said he had given little thought to the pioneering part of the surgery. He said he felt there was potential for a good outcome. He said he relied on a “very good team of doctors” to help him regain some use of his hand again.
I’m Anna Matteo.
Alex Fraser reported this article from Turin, Italy. Anna Matteo adapted this story for her VOA Learning English.
Quiz – Italian man may regain use of his hands after neurological surgery
Start the quiz to find out
_____________________________________________
words of this story
surgery -yeah. medical surgery
disconnect –v. removing a limb, such as an arm or leg, from the body in order to save the patient
paralyzed -adjective not being able to move
transfer –v. move from one place to another
component -yeah. part of a larger device or system
pioneering -adjective Do something for the first time or use a new idea.to be one of the earliest people to do something
plasticity -yeah. the ability to change into another form
we want to hear from you. Is there a similar expression in your language? Our comment policy is: here.