New Delhi: The hands of a 28-year-old brain dead man were transported from Ahmedabad to be transplanted to a man in Mumbai who had lost his forelimb in an accident.
According to a report by news agency PTI, a large team of doctors comprising surgeons from the plastic, hand, microvascular orthopaedic departments and anaesthesiologists participated in the complex 13-hour surgery that concluded successfully.
Prathamesh Tawde (22) had lost his left hand and the three fingers of his right hand in an accident at a tyre factory in Mumbai last April. His hands had gotten trapped in a machine and he sustained burn injuries over his forearm and thigh due to hot rubber. Following the accident, his left hand had to be amputated at distal forearm level and he lost three fingers of his right hand.
After the primary treatment at a hospital in suburban Bhandup, he was registered for a hand transplant two months back and was on the waiting list since.
On February 9, his family received a call from the hospital that a pair of forelimbs were being donated by a man in Ahmedabad who had met with a motorcycle accident and was announced brain dead, after which the family decided to donate his hands and internal organs.
Prathamesh had come across a video on hand transplant surgery on Facebook and inquired about it in the comments after which a hospital got in touch with the family, his sister, Shraddha said.
The hands of the donor were flown from Ahmedabad to Mumbai in a charter flight on February 10. The organ was carefully preserved in special solutions and packed on ice for transportation.
“The surgery was very challenging,” Nilesh Satbhai, head of the department, senior consultant, Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive microsurgery & Transplant Surgery at Global Hospital, Parel, said, as quoted by PTI.
“We transplanted only the index, middle and ring fingers to the hand, without disturbing or damaging the patient's original thumb and little finger. This is more difficult to do than a standard forearm level transplant,” he said.
Explaining the surgical procedure of limb transplant, the doctor said that the bones are fixed first followed by repair of the blood vessels, after which the muscles, tendons and nerves are repaired. The skin is then adjusted to cover all the wounds and give it a proper shape.
“A crossmatch between the donor and the recipient is a crucial decision maker in the process of hand transplants,” Dr Satbhai said.
"In hand transplants, we match the blood groups and the HLA (human leukocyte antigen) typing. We ensure that the crossmatch is negative, before proceeding with the transplant," the doctor added.
He further said that the patient is doing well now. His right hand will have a quicker recovery, while it will take him around nine months to achieve good movement on his left hand, Dr Satbhai added.