Surgeons Reattach Worker’s Severed Arm
A team of surgeons worked 13 hours Thursday to reattach the arm of a 22-year-old man who had caught it in a metal-cutting machine in Vernon.
Diosdado Miguel of East Los Angeles was in critical but stable condition at County-USC Medical Center, where eight surgeons reattached the right forearm just below the elbow.
The accident occurred just after midnight at Container Recycling Alliance at 3211 E. 26th St.
“Apparently he was working on a machine to cut metal and his arm got caught,” hospital spokeswoman Adelaida De La Cerda said.
Doctors said it is too soon to predict whether Miguel will regain full use of his arm. He must undergo several more surgeries to repair nerves and muscles and to transfer tendons, said Dr. Randy Sherman, director of implantation and plastic surgery.
The 24 hours after the surgery are critical in determining whether the body will accept the attached limb, De La Cerda said.
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