Re-attaching Severed Limbs a Routine Procedure

Did you know that re-attaching severed limbs is a routine procedure that was pioneered in the 60's and has been commonplace since the 80's? Well, we didn't know this either until we stumbled upon an amazing story of a man in England who accidentally chopped his arm off just below the elbow with a chainsaw and had it surgically re-attached hours later. After just a few months he could move his arm and fingers again and he was back to work.  See the image of his repaired arm to the right.

After reading this article our curiosity was ignited and with a few searches we were shocked to see how common these types of procedures are. According to this article:

Fingers are one thing, but entire arms, feet, and legs too? Yes indeed! An article from the Telegraph claims that in England hundreds of fingers are re-attached every year and larger limbs such as arms are re-attached perhaps a dozen or more times a year!

The key to successful re-attachment is microsurgery, which is surgery that is performed on very small structures, such as blood vessels and nerves, with specialized instruments under a microscope. According to this article: