Current procedures in China on replantation of severed limbs and digits.

Since the first successful replantation of a severed right hand was reported in 1963, surgeons in China have performed more than 3735 replantations of limbs and digits with increasing improvement in the survival rate. Of special interest is that local hospitals have reported numerous successful cases revealing a popularization of this kind of operation in China. The replantation survival rate is related to the type of injury and duration of anoxia. The types of injury include avulsion or crush amputation, severed distal segments of fingers, immersion conditions, amputated limbs or digits in children, and segmental resection of diseased tissues. The results are analyzed by a special system of functional evaluation.