For a more permanent solution, the patient decided to replace the thumb with a toe. His second toe, to be precise. Dr. Nigam, who had done a hand fellowship, had performed a similar procedure in ...

Nigam labored for nine hours in the operation with a co-surgeon at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, taking the patient's second toe on the right foot to replace the left hand thumb.

It was an accident that could have jeopardized the patient’s career. “He had a big metal beam or sheet that fell on his thumb ...