Doctors perform incredible surgery on 16-month-old boy born with FIVE THUMBS

A 16-month-old boy who was born with five thumbs has been given back the use of his hands after doctors removed the extra fingers in an amazing surgery.

Little Kyrie Carter, from Fresno, California, was born with two thumbs on his right hand and three thumbs on his left hand.

Last month, he underwent an incredible surgery where the thumbs on his right hand were fused together while an earlier surgery removed the extra digits on his left hand.

Surgeons say the infant is recovering well - and his father says he can't wait for the day that his 'little man' will be able to dribble a basketball.

Back in August, Kyrie had surgery to remove the additional thumbs on his left hand. Last month, his parents brought him in to Valley Children's Hospital for surgery on the other hand.

Kyrie's two right thumbs were really one split thumb, said Dr Mimi Chao, the lead pediatric surgeon for the infant's procedure.

In the womb, a baby's hand starts out in the shape of a mitten or paddle, and tissue dies back to create individual fingers around week six or seven of pregnancy.

However, if the tissue doesn't die back enough, a child is born with webbed fingers.

And if the tissue dies where it's not supposed to, the finger splits - resulting in what appears to be two or more fingers.

'Some families will ask, "Are two thumbs better than one? Can it put a wicked spin on a baseball?" - those types of functional questions. But the answer is really no, because the two thumbs actually interfere with each others' function,' Dr Chao told The Fresno Bee.

During the surgery, which took place on February 16, Dr Chao took the best parts of the two thumbs on Kyrie's right hand and merged them into one.

The outside thumb was preserved because it had the better joint connecting it to the hand. Some tendons, ligaments and skin were taken from the inside thumb and weaved into the other thumb, which also was straightened.

The procedures are among a long list of plastic surgeries performed at the Madera County hospital every year.

Last year, Valley Children's saw 195 children born with extra fingers on their hands.

'This is supposed to be a rare embryonic developmental condition, but we see a lot of this here at the hospital,' Dr Chao said.

'We're the only one in the Valley that does a significant amount of pediatric hand surgeries.'

Around one in 1,000 babies is born with additional fingers - and it's even rarer to see multiple children in one family with the condition, as exists in Kyrie's case.

Four of Kyrie's siblings were born with extra fingers, but none of them have ever had surgery.

Harold Carter, Kyrie's father, didn't want his son to experience the same type of bullying that the other children have.

Of the five, Carter is the father only of Kyrie. The other four live in Las Vegas with their mother.

Dr Chao said that while pediatric plastic surgery can be done for cosmetic reasons, it's often done for children to live more functional lives.

She added that these procedures help children 'achieve a normal appearance and integrate socially and not suffer childhood teasing and bullying'.

Many issues can now be detected while a baby is still in the womb, which allows families to start meeting with plastic surgeons even before a baby is born.

The aim of Kyrie's thumb surgery wasn't just to give him one thumb, it was to give him a stable one - a thumb that will help him grip successfully.

Also removed during Kyrie's surgery last month was small nubbin on the outside of Kyrie's left hand - which might have been the start of another finger trying to grow.

Following the procedure, the infant's hands were set in casts.

Once the hands heal and the casts come off, Kyrie will undergo physical therapy and routine check-ups. Depending on how his hands grow, doctors may later decide he needs more surgery.

But in the meantime, his father dreams of his son dribbling a basketball in no time at all. 

'He's going to play every sport!' Harold Carter said, excitedly.

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter