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How does limb replantation work?

Limb replantation is a procedure that can reattach an arm, leg, hand, or foot that is cut off due to a traumatic injury or accident. A limb replantation works by reattaching the bone, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels, and nerves surgically. This is a long procedure that requires multiple skilled surgeons with extremely specialized tools. 

Unfortunately, the complexity of limb replantation means that a lot of things must go right for it to be an option. Some of the most common requirements are:

  • The cut must be “clean.” Limbs that are crushed, have explosion-related injuries, or a large amount of trauma to the cut ends make reattachment of blood vessels impossible. 
  • The cut must be recent. Limbs cannot be reattached if they have lost blood flow for several hours.
  • The patient must be relatively healthy. Reattaching a limb is a long and complex surgery that extremely sick patients may not survive.

* Savings estimate based on a study of more than 1 billion claims comparing self-pay (or cash pay) prices of a frequency-weighted market basket of procedures to insurer-negotiated rates for the same. Claims were collected between July 2017 and July 2019. R.Lawrence Van Horn, Arthur Laffer, Robert L.Metcalf. 2019. The Transformative Potential for Price Transparency in Healthcare: Benefits for Consumers and Providers. Health Management Policy and Innovation, Volume 4, Issue 3.

Sidecar Health offers and administers a variety of plans including ACA compliant and excepted benefit plans. Coverage and plan options may vary or may not be available in all states.

Your actual costs may be higher or lower than these cost estimates. Check with your provider and health plan details to confirm the costs that you may be charged for a service or procedure.You are responsible for costs that are not covered and for getting any pre-authorizations or referrals required by your health plan. Neither payments nor benefits are guaranteed. Provider data, including price data, provided in part by Turquoise Health.

The site is not a substitute for medical or healthcare advice and does not serve as a recommendation for a particular provider or type of medical or healthcare.