Kochi: Doctors at the Kochi-based Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre (AIMS) successfully conducted India’s first hand transplant on Tuesday.
World over around 110 cases of cadaver hand transplant have been documented so far with less than three per cent rejections.
In a marathon 16-hour-long surgery, a 30-year-old youth, who had lost both his hands in a train accident, received the hands of a 24-year-old accident victim.
Manu, a resident of Thodupuzha in Idukki District of Kerala, had lost both of his hands in a train accident a year ago and was waiting for a recipient.
Dr. SubramaniaIyer, who heads the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Amrita Hospital, said the credit for the transplant should equally go to the family of Binoy from Varapuzha in Ernakulam district, who graciously agreed to donate his limbs. Binoy was brain-dead after a motor-cycle accident.
“Technically everything went well. It may take another 10-14 days before confirming the acceptance of the limbs by the recipient,” Dr. Iyer was quoted by the Indian Science Journal, as saying.
