A team of doctors in Delhi, India, have successfully performed a bilateral hand transplant on a 45-year-old painter who lost both hands in a horrific train accident a few years ago.
Using a the hands of a brain dead donor, the team comprising 11 doctors performed the procedure on Raj Kumar at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi on Jan. 19.
Doctors Pose With Kumar In The Hospital After The Surgery
The donor, Meena Mehta, who was a former administrative head of a local school who was pronounced brain dead before her hands were grafted for the procedure on Kumar.
The team lead, Dr. Swaroop Singh Gambhir said they first secured the bones before connecting the muscles, arteries and nerves of the donor’s hands to the recipient’s. After the 12-hour operation and six weeks of recovery, Kumar was discharged.
#Delhi’s first successful bilateral hand transplant in Ganga Ram Hospital.
A terrific story of resilience and courage and also an example of humanity, a lady who was declared brain dead pledged her organs and her hands found way for this painter who belonged to economically… pic.twitter.com/hM2bkUtWKY
“I was limping due to a leg injury. I slipped on the tracks and my bicycle got stuck. I was trying to pull my bicycle with my hands when I was run over,” he told the Press Trust of India.
After the accident, he underwent a prosthetic trial which turned out unsuccessful and left him dependent on others.
A new Hope With The Bilateral Hand Transplant
Kumar’s life turned around for good when the hospital informed him in January that they found him a donor who was a match for a bilateral hand transplant. Mehta turned out blessing for many persons as organs were donated for other individuals. Her corneas, liver and one of her kidneys were donated.
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, for its part, was reportedly the first hospital in North India to receive permission to perform hand transplants in February 2023.
Dr. Mahesh Mangal, chairman of the Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery at the hospital, told PTI that Kumar will need to take immunosuppressants, similar to those given to liver and kidney transplant patients, for the rest of his life to prevent his body from rejecting his new hands.
Additionally, it will take six to seven months before he starts experiencing sensations in them. This means he will have to take precautions against touching anything too hot or too cold, Mangal added.
