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Section TitleAdvanced Specialty Care
  • Microsurgery
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    Why Choose Us

    Tragic accidents or congenital deformities at one time may have meant disfigurement, pain, and possibly a life of being unable to tie ones shoelaces, climb a ladder or walk down a street without unwanted glances. The chances of living a full and normal life have been dramatically altered. Today, through the work of our physicians and researchers at the Buncke Clinic and Buncke Microsurgical Research Laboratory, the effects of these life-altering setbacks are being reversed.

    Microsurgery

    Digit Reconstruction

    The blood vessels and nerves that supply fingers and small body parts like ears, scalps and noses are so small that a microscope is necessary to help place the sutures in the walls of the blood vessels and coverings of the nerves so that blood flow and nerve transmission could be established.

    Toe to Thumb Transplant

    Two early milestones in the history of Microsurgery were the successful replantation of amputated digits and transplantation of the great toe to the hand, for thumb reconstruction. Dr. Harry Buncke pioneered these advances, developed the techniques and created the instruments to make such replantations possible. He and his wife performed the first great toe-to-thumb transplant in 1964. These early achievements revolutionized the management of hand trauma throughout the world.

    Today, hundreds of toe-to-thumb surgeries have been performed at California Pacific Medical Center, and the surgery that Dr. Buncke pioneered has become a routine procedure around the world. Read more about
    • Toe to thumb transplant surgery
    • Innovation: A Medical Pioneer
    • Our History
    • Microsurgery "Firsts"
    • Success Stories
    • Our Dedication to Research
    • Our Training Programs
    • Our Publications
    Microsurgery Operating Team performing reconstructive surgery
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    © 2013 California Pacific Medical Center. All rights reserved. Sutter Health is a registered trademark of Sutter Health®, Reg. U.S. Patent. & Trademark office. CPMC serves patients from San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo, Oakland, Berkeley, Palo Alto, Santa Rosa, San Jose and the Bay Area.