V-P felicitates doctors for performing below elbow hand transplant

CHENNAI: Doctors at Gleneagles Global Health City were felicitated by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu for performing a successful bilateral below elbow hand transplant for a man from Kancheepuram. This is the second case of successful hand transplants after the first case of successful hand transplant done in 2019 at Stanley Medical College and Hospital.

The hand transplant was recieved via air from Ahmedabad.

A 24-year-old male from Kancheepuram had lost both hands due to high voltage electrical burns in 2018 and was registered with the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) for a hand transplant. Living with this disability for over three years, he breathed a sigh of relief on 28th May 2022 when we received an alert from the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) and TRANSTAN about a prospective hand donor from Ahmedabad.

The patient was wheeled in for a 14-hour marathon procedure, and transplant was conducted successfully. Dr S Selva Seetha Raman, Director - Senior Consultant - Institute of Plastic, Aesthetic - Reconstructive Surgery along with a team of plastic surgeons, orthopedicians, vascular surgeon, anaesthetists, nephrologist (transplant immunology), and paramedical personnel comprised the team.

Felicitating the doctors, the Vice President said, "From my understanding, the process indeed has been strenuous, and the doctors have taken a very meticulous approach in achieving this as a team. This case is a great example to motivate people to step forward and donate organs, especially hands of brain-dead patients, and provide a good quality of life to the disabled.”

The procedure was performed on 28 May 2022 and has been 60 successful days since the transplant. The patient is doing well and is on a road to recovery with intensive physiotherapy.