Baby Boy Born With 15 Fingers And 16 Toes Undergoes Surgery

A baby boy in Ningbo, China, was born with 15 fingers and 16 toes, is set to undergo a series of corrective surgeries in order to remove the extra digits.

Doctors are in the process of removing the extra digits and reshaping the child’s remaining digits over three stages of operations.

The child’s mother was born with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, which may explain how he inherited the condition which is medically known as polydactyly.

Polydactyly occurs in an estimated one in every 1,000 cases, serious cases like this are rare.

The family are from Hunan Province in southern China.

Doctors say that the surgery will be long and a long period of recovery will be needed once the operations are complete. 

Because the medical treatment is highly costly, the hospital has decided to reduce the cost of the procedures. 

Doctor Xu Jihai from No 6 Ningbo Hospital told reporters that the surgery will be completed in three phases. 

The first phase involves removing the toes and ensuring that the child is able to walk. 

Once that is finished, the second phase involves making thumbs for the infant and removing additional fingers. 

While the third would completely reshape the child’s fingers.  

Once the phases are finished, there will be enough time for the child to recover before starting school. 

The hospital has also promised follow-up treatments for him for the next 16 years as he grows. 

Doctors have already completed the first phase of treatment. 

This isn’t the first case like this in China. 

In May, it was reported that another baby was also born with 15 fingers and 16 toes.

The boy, named Honghong, is also from Hunan province and has two palms on each hand with no thumbs. 

Source: dailymail