Accident - KORNEFF, Austin Alex (1969)
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Accident - KORNEFF, Austin Alex (1969)
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Posted: 13 Jun 2008 1:42AM GMT |
Classification: Query
SEVERED ARM SEWN ON IN DRAMATIC OPERATION
By BEN ZINSER
Medical.Science Editor
A dramatic surgical attempt to save a man's arm, virtually severed in a power boat accident, was reported Wednesday by spokesmen for the medical profession.
A 5-1/2 hour operation was performed in St. Mary's Hospital, Long Beach, in an endeavor to salvage the victim's right forearm.
A hospital spokesman said the outlook for success appears "Quite good now but we have to be cautious about any predictions for the next 10 days."
The accident victim is Austin Korneff, 52, of 7800 E. Fourth Place, Downey, an employed of Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach for the past 15 years.
The accident occurred off Catalina Island Saturday when Korneff fell from a power boat. The boat's propeller first struck three inches below the right elbow, doing its major damage there, and then hit two inches above Korneff's wrist.
Although the injury was described as an “incomplete amputation," the only intact arm structures were the radial artery, the median nerve, the superficial branch of the radial nerve and a small portion of muscle. The nerves described deal with motion and sensation. Everything else had been cut, a doctor described. The ulna bone (the forearm's larger bone) was fragmented three inches below the elbow and shattered at the wrist. The radius (shorter arm bone) was shattered at the wrist and dislocated at the elbow.
An orthopedic surgeon with special training in hand surgery performed the operation.
Metal rods were inserted in the center of both forearm bones. These will be temporary implantations, the doctor said.
Korneff currently has feeling in his thumb and index finger and part of the middle finger. Blood is circulating through the hand beautifully, one doctor said.
The surgeon said it will be two to three weeks before physicians will know whether the arm will survive. If it does, long-term reconstructive surgery lies ahead he said.
Press-Telegram | Long Beach, California | Thursday, September 25, 1969 | Page 5
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Parents: Alex Sam Korneff and Nellie Makaeff
Known children: Nick, Alex, Jim, Austin
Spouse: Martha Peter Shubin, married about March 1940
Known children: Paula, Daniel
By BEN ZINSER
Medical.Science Editor
A dramatic surgical attempt to save a man's arm, virtually severed in a power boat accident, was reported Wednesday by spokesmen for the medical profession.
A 5-1/2 hour operation was performed in St. Mary's Hospital, Long Beach, in an endeavor to salvage the victim's right forearm.
A hospital spokesman said the outlook for success appears "Quite good now but we have to be cautious about any predictions for the next 10 days."
The accident victim is Austin Korneff, 52, of 7800 E. Fourth Place, Downey, an employed of Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach for the past 15 years.
The accident occurred off Catalina Island Saturday when Korneff fell from a power boat. The boat's propeller first struck three inches below the right elbow, doing its major damage there, and then hit two inches above Korneff's wrist.
Although the injury was described as an “incomplete amputation," the only intact arm structures were the radial artery, the median nerve, the superficial branch of the radial nerve and a small portion of muscle. The nerves described deal with motion and sensation. Everything else had been cut, a doctor described. The ulna bone (the forearm's larger bone) was fragmented three inches below the elbow and shattered at the wrist. The radius (shorter arm bone) was shattered at the wrist and dislocated at the elbow.
An orthopedic surgeon with special training in hand surgery performed the operation.
Metal rods were inserted in the center of both forearm bones. These will be temporary implantations, the doctor said.
Korneff currently has feeling in his thumb and index finger and part of the middle finger. Blood is circulating through the hand beautifully, one doctor said.
The surgeon said it will be two to three weeks before physicians will know whether the arm will survive. If it does, long-term reconstructive surgery lies ahead he said.
Press-Telegram | Long Beach, California | Thursday, September 25, 1969 | Page 5
=============================
Parents: Alex Sam Korneff and Nellie Makaeff
Known children: Nick, Alex, Jim, Austin
Spouse: Martha Peter Shubin, married about March 1940
Known children: Paula, Daniel