Finland's first hand transplant was performed at Helsinki's Meilahti Bridge Hospital in November, according to Helsinki University Hospital (HUS).
The operation went according to plan and lasted about 17 hours with two surgical teams of hand, plastic and transplantation surgeons working the entire time.
"We transplanted one hand to a patient who had both hands and legs amputated years ago," said Jorma Ryhänen, professor and head physician in hand surgery, in a HUS press release.
Generally, hand and arm transplantations have been performed at a level between the wrist and the elbow, depending on the patient.
"The longer the recipient’s stump, the smaller the transplanted section needs to be, and the better the expected functional result. Our first patient's transplant was attached below the elbow," explained Ryhänen.
Three operations required
According to the press release, hand transplants require three separate operations. The hand must be removed from the donor, the recipient needs preparatory surgery and then the hand must be fixed in place onto the recipient.
First the bones and blood vessels are attached, then the tendons, nerves and other structures.
After the operation, the patient was in intensive care for about a week and in the general ward for several weeks.
The patient is now being discharged and faces more than a year of rehabilitation and several follow-up visits to the hospital.
According to the press release, HUS doctors practiced surgery on cadavers and visited other countries to learn about hand transplantation. The first hand transplant was performed in France in 1998. Since then, around 120 hand transplants have been carried out in Western countries.
"Now that the first hand transplant has been successfully performed, the next step is to establish the operation as part of HUS's services," said Markku Mäkijärvi, HUS's Chief Physician.
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