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Optional Treatment

 

Angie Duckworth, Transplant Social Worker, talks about hand/arm transplantation as an optional treatment.

 
 

Getting a Hand/Arm Transplant is Optional

Getting a hand/arm transplant is entirely voluntary. That means it is your choice and no one should pressure you to get a hand/arm transplant.

Some people with upper limb loss may feel desperate to change their situation.1,2 This desperation might make a person feel that hand/arm transplant is their only option.

If you decide to start the hand/arm transplant evaluation process, you have the option to withdraw at any time for any reason. As part of the evaluation process, the transplant team will help to identify any pressures—from other people, from your life circumstances, or from within yourself—to see if hand/arm transplantation is right for you.

 
 

Mr. Cicero, with unilateral, above elbow limb loss (12 years after amputation), talks about the patients’ choice in treatment decision-making.

Ms. Skinner, with unilateral, below-elbow limb loss (5 years after amputation), discusses her thoughts on decision-making about hand/arm transplantation.

 

Click Below for More Videos

Videos of Health Care Professionals

David Rotter, Prosthetist, talks about how people considering a hand/arm transplant should get information from many sources before deciding.

 

Videos of Hand/Arm Transplant Recipients and People with Limb Loss

Mr. White, with unilateral, below-elbow limb loss (6 years after amputation), talks about his voluntariness to get a hand/arm transplant.

 

References

Sources

  1. Breidenbach WC, Tobin GR, Gorantla VS, et al. A Position Statement in Support of Hand Transplantation. The Journal of hand surgery. 2002;27(5):760-770.

  2. Dean WK, Talbot SG. Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation at a Crossroad: Adopting Lessons from Technology Innovation to Novel Clinical Applications. Transplantation 2017;101(3):452-456.