Doctors at Gleneagles Global Health City, a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, successfully performed a life-changing bilateral hand transplant (below elbow) for a man hailing from Kancheepuram for whom the hand was air transported from Ahmedabad. The team of doctors from Gleneagles Global Health City was honoured by M Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India.
A 24-year-old male from Kancheepuram had lost both hands due to high voltage electrical burns in 2018 and required his mother’s support for routine chores. Despite this challenge, he was very confident and optimistic about having a hand transplant and leading a normal life. He also 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 NOTTA and TRANSTAN about a prospective hand donor from Ahmedabad. With the support, swift action, and timely clearances of NOTTA, the respective state governments, TRANSTAN, and DMS, the hand was flown from Ahmedabad to Chennai, covering 1800 km, and brought to Gleneagles Global Health City.
The patient was wheeled in for a 14-hour marathon procedure, and expert specialists performed the transplant successfully. Dr S. Selva SeethaRaman (Director & Senior Consultant - Institute of Plastic, Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery), 8 plastic surgeons, 4 orthopedicians, a vascular surgeon, 4 anaesthetists, a nephrologist (transplant immunology), and 30 paramedical personnel comprised the team.
Speaking at the felicitation, Venkaiah Naidu said: “It gives me a sense of pride that the country is blessed with such remarkable and dedicated doctors across states. 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.”
Elaborating the case, Dr S Selva SeethaRaman, HOD & Senior Consultant - Institute of Plastic, Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery, Gleneagles Global Health City, Chennai, said, “Handling a case of hand transplants requires the highest levels of precision and medical expertise. With this case, we are happy to have recorded this rare feat of bilateral below elbow hand transplant in the state of Tamil Nadu.”
The procedure was performed on 28 May 2022 and it has been 60 successful days since the transplant. The patient is doing well and is on the road to recovery with intensive physiotherapy.