India's First Hand Transplant at AIMS Impresses International Experts

India's first hand transplant at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) was highly commended by international experts and surgeons. The hand transplant was carried out successfully at AIMS, Kochi, on January 13, 2015.

Dr. Breidenbach, chief of Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery, University of Arizona, who led the world's first hand transplant, visited the AIMS and met Dr.Manu and his assistant Dr Vijay, who led the surgery.

During the interaction with doctors at AIMS, Dr. Breidenbach, said, "Hand transplantation is rare in India as donation of hand is yet to became a common practice here. Organ donation, including hand, has become common in Western countries, our team has performed 86 such transplants in America and Europe," he added.

The 16-hour surgery was conducted in February on a 30-year-old Manu, who had lost both his hands in a train accident. He received the hands of a 24-year-old Binoy, a brain-dead accident victim.

In re-plantation, a dismembered limb is surgically restored; but in a transplant, the limb fitted on the recipient. Transplants of hand and upper limb have been accepted as one of the best forms of rehabilitation in patients with loss of hands. They are superior in many respects to prosthodontic rehabilitation.



Source: Medindia