What Is Surgery Like?
Surgical Process
- Surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists work together to prepare for and perform the hand/arm transplant surgery.1,2
- The surgery takes, on average, about 15 hours, and 20-40 medical professionals may be involved in performing the surgery.3 The amount of time and number of medical professionals involved depend on the extent of the transplant (e.g., hand versus upper limb).
- Generally, the hand/arm transplant surgery connects existing anatomy with the anatomy of the new arm. This means, for example, the end of the vein you still have, will be connected to the end of the new vein.4 Similarly, the bones are connected through a process called osteosynthesis, which often uses a metal plate and screws to connect the two bones together.4
- Learn about what happens after the surgery.
Keeping the Family Informed During Surgery
- Patients’ family members commonly accompany the patient to the hospital and remain in the waiting area during the surgery.1
- During the surgery, the transplant team checks in on the patient’s family members to provide updates on the progress of the surgery and patient’s health status.2
- After the surgery, family members may be allowed to visit patients in their hospital room, as they wake up from surgery.1 At this time, the team will again check in on the patient’s family members, to see how they are doing.1
References
Sources
DukeHealth. North Carolina’s First Double Hand Transplant Recipient Grateful for Gift [Internet]. Dukehealth.org. 2019
World’s First Bilateral Hand Transplant on a Child: Zion’s Story. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 2015
Cendales L. American Society of Transplantation [Internet]. BBC Radio Interview. Myast.org. 2015. [cited 2019 Jan 7];
MacKay BJ, Nacke E, Posner M. Hand Transplantation--a review. Bulletin of the Hospital for Joint Diseases 2014; 72(1):76-88.