An accidential self-inflicted injury to left hand middle finger.
Timeline
3:55 PM Accident occurred. Left hand slipped while
"ripping" wood on a radial-arm saw. (Push stick was used, no blade guard
available.)
4:00 PM Called 911
4:20 PM EMS arrived
5:00 PM Start travel to emergency room at LLUMC
6:00 PM Arrive LLUMC
9:00 PM Wound closure commenced
11:PM Discharged from emergency room.
Severed finger tip
While waiting for Emergency Services to arrive, I placed the amputated finger
tip on ice, and managed to get this picture. I was not able to get an
image of the severed finger joint, my interest in photographic records only went
so far.
The amputation was through the first joint, and I was told that it was not the type of amputation that is successfully attached, thus the would was cleaned and primary closure was obtained.
The following are some images of the healing in the days following the accident surgical closure was made.
Actually the 24 hour view was pretty much identical. There was good
primary closure, good color, and sensory response was present.
I did not experience paraesthesia, and there was no sighs of ecchymosis
around the would which indicated good circulation..
Some other images while healing.
At first I tried to disguise the injury.
Some additional comments:
Dec 12, 2005: Ever get a small bit of dirt or sand under your fingernail. Well this morning I noted that feeling coming from the lost fingertip. Guess this is one of those "phantom" sensations that is talked about. It was not a sensation of pain, but just an unusual sensation to be aware of, since I think that there should be no sensation at all. Awareness of sensation lasted about 2 days.