Pioneering doctors have replaced a two-year-old girl’s malformed thumb – using her index finger.
The bizarre operation has given the unnamed toddler, who lives in the United Arab Emirates, complete control of her hand.
Before the unusual procedure, she struggled to use her right hand because of the congenital malformation, local reports state.
She was born without any bones in her thumb, doctors at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain revealed in a public statement.
Before the strange procedure, she struggled to use her right hand because of the congenital malformation, local reports state
The bizarre operation has given the unnamed toddler, of the United Arab Emirates, complete control of her hand
It is not clear how long the operation went on for, but plastic surgeon Dr Ammar Al Daman described it as being very successful.
The patient’s mother ‘expressed gratitude’ for the operation that would prevent her daughter from experiencing ‘psychological issues’ in the future.
In a statement released by the hospital after the cosmetic surgery, he announced ‘the girl’s hand function had improved’.
Dr Abdullah Al Naqshbandi, medical director of the hospital, said the procedure highlighted the ‘comprehensive services’ they offer.
The new case, reported by GulfNews, follows a spate of incidents published in the MailOnline of other strange operations.
A father-of-three whose fingers were replaced with his toes after a horrific accident has learnt how to use his new digits to hold a pen, it was reported in September.
Jeremy Payton, 55, feared he would be disabled for life after severing all the fingers on his right hand in an industrial power blending machine.
But surgeons were able to remove three of the keen golfer’s toes and attach them to his hand in a pioneering operation to give him basic dexterity.
And a student who lost his thumb in a terrorist attack was finally able to do simple tasks again after having his toe transplanted onto his hand in August.
Irfaan-ul-lah, 22, from Kabul, Afghanistan, was caught up in a bomb blast two years ago that caused him to lose his right thumb and three fingers.
After two years of desperately searching for a solution, he finally found a doctor who was able to perform the seven hour toe-to-thumb surgery.
And an Australian man whose thumb was severed in a cattle herding accident has had a big toe removed and transplanted onto his hand to replace the lost digit.
Zac Mitchell, 20, was working on a remote cattle station in Western Australia when his hand was kicked by a bull and thrust against a fence, slicing off his right thumb.
While a British father-of-one shot to fame in 2011 after he showed off his unusual new thumb after he lost his original in a carpentry accident.
James Byrne, 29, had his big toe grafted on to his hand after he severed his left thumb while sawing through a piece of wood the previous December.