French girl travels to Suzhou for life-changing hand surgery

"We a re truly grateful to the Chinese medical team. The surgery was a great success, and we will finally be able to go home next week." Those were the words of the parents of a five-year-old French girl, who was discharged from the Children's Hospital of Soochow University on Tuesday.

The accident that costed the tip of the left ring finger of the French girl has weighed heavily on her family since it happened. When she was just one year old, she accidentally caught her finger in a door while playing. She then underwent three reconstructive operations in her hometown, but none succeeded in saving the fingertip. Running out of options, the family was referred by a local physician to Dr. Shen Xiaofang, an expert in pediatric hand surgery, after learning of her successful surgical cases. Convinced by her expertise, they decided to seek treatment in Suzhou.

Last week's five-hour operation successfully reconstructed the girl's fingertip. Dr. Shen's team carefully harvested a composite tissue flap that included the toenail, skin, a small section of bone, blood vessels and nerves from the patient's big toe to create a new fingertip.

Before surgery (left) and after surgery (right).

The reason why they chose to use the tissue from the big toe, according to Dr. Shen, is that its skin texture, nail shape and bone structure closely resemble those of a fingertip. The reconstruction is expected to restore grasping and bending functions and produce a natural appearance.

Aside from difficulties in surgery, there was another challenge: language. The girl's family is originally from Tunisia and primarily speaks Arabic and French. Fortunately, an Egyptian doctor and an Australian doctor participating in exchange programs at the hospital stepped in as interpreters, helping eliminate language barriers.

"We hope more people will learn about our little girl's surgery so that more kids facing the same situation can benefit," the girl's father said.

Source: 看苏州 (Kan Suzhou app)