Patient Stories
Sutter Orthopaedic Institute
Michael – Regenerating a New Fingertip
While restoring his 1967 Mustang, Michael accidently pinched off the tip of his left ring finger when the tool he was using broke. “My finger got caught in between the coil spring and the broken spring compressor tool. Took the tip right off,” he says. “I think I was in shock – even though blood was spurting from my finger, I remember straightening up my work space before a neighbor drove me to the ER.”
At Sutter Roseville Medical Center’s emergency room, Michael was quickly treated. A couple doctors suspected that there was no saving his finger, that it would likely be amputated at the top knuckle. “One of the doctors said he’d have Sutter Roseville’s hand specialist take a look before making any decisions,” says Michael. “Luckily for me, that specialist was Dr. Hankins.”
Dr. Hankins thought he might be able to rebuild Michael’s finger using tissue from his palm – a process that would take a couple surgeries, followed by weeks of physical therapy. “I was relieved to hear that,” Michael says. “He warned me it wasn’t a sure thing, but he would try if I was willing to go through the long process – and I was. Even though I would have learned how to deal with a partially amputated finger, I certainly didn’t want to do that if I didn’t have to.”
The next day, Dr. Hankins operated on Michael. He separated a patch of flesh from Michael’s palm and rebuilt it into a fingertip. Dr. Hankins then reattached the modified fingertip to Michael’s palm, a technique that helps the reassembled tissue regenerate before attaching to the finger. “I had that tip attached to my palm for three weeks,” Michael explains. “After that, Dr. Hankins did another surgery to remove it from my palm and attach it to my finger.”
Dr. Hankins kept Michael’s hope in check. “After the second procedure, Dr. Hankins told me he wasn’t sure if the new tip would properly acclimate,” Michael says. “I had to see him a few days later to see how it was going.”
At the following office visit, Dr. Hankins was pleased with Michael’s progress. “He said it looked good. I was elated.” Michael says. “I was so grateful to Dr. Hankins for all he did for me. Even more so when I found out he was on vacation but came in just to check on my progress. I told him that this could have waited, but Dr. Hankins said my situation was on his mind and he didn’t want to make either of us wait longer than we had to.”
After a few weeks of physical therapy, Michael regained full use of his hand. “You really can’t tell anything happened by looking at it. I have a faint scar on my palm and my new fingertip is just slightly shorter than it was before. What remained of the root of the nail bed took to the new tip and my finger looks and functions just as it should.”
Michael is quick to credit Dr. Hankins with his full recovery. “He is an amazing doctor. The result speaks for itself; Dr. Hankins has to be one the best hand surgeons,” Michael says. “In addition to his skill, I appreciate that he was quick to see me and willing to do so much work just for my fingertip because it was important to me. He scheduled my first surgery with only one day’s notice and then came to the office during his vacation to do one of my follow-up appointments. How many other doctors would do that? Dr. Hankins is one of a kind.”