▲ Photo of hand transplant surgery at the organ transplant center of Severance Hospital
The era of implanting someone else's arm has come.
Seoul Severance Hospital succeeded in arm transplantation for a man whose right arm was amputated in an accident.
This is the first surgery after a hand and arm transplant is legally permitted.
Severance Hospital Organ Transplant Center Hand Transplantation Team Professor Jong-won Hong of Plastic Surgery Department, Professor Yoon-rak Choi of Orthopedic Surgery Department, and Professor Dong-jin Joo of the Department of Transplantation Surgery announced today (21) that they succeeded in transplanting the arm of a brain-dead donor to a 62-year-old male Choi Mo.
Choi was amputated under the right elbow in an accident two years ago.
I wanted an arm transplant while undergoing additional treatments such as prosthetics at the Severance Hospital Plastic Surgery Clinic, and after an internal evaluation for a year or so, I registered as an organ transplant waiter at the National Organ and Tissue Blood Management Center of the Ministry of Health and Welfare at the organ transplant center at Severance Hospital.
Earlier this month, a brain injury occurred due to cardiac arrest, and the arm of a brain-dead person who donated organs and tissues to Severance Hospital can be transplanted.
The surgery took place for about 17 hours from 1:30 pm on the 9th under the collaboration of plastic surgery and orthopedics.
Arm transplantation is a difficult surgery that connects bones, muscles, tendons, arteries, veins, nerves, and skin.
In this operation, the medical staff focused on protecting Choi's remaining arm tissue as much as possible and functioning normally after transplantation.
In particular, it was fixed to match the length of the opposite arm, which is functioning normally.
Professor Choi said, "No matter how long the implanted arm is the same length as the normal arm, we can reduce the discomfort in daily life." "Since the tendons and nerves are essential for restoring the normal function of the hand, I carefully sutured it." Said.
In addition, when connecting some of the blood vessels, the surgery was completed only after going through the process of repeatedly checking whether the blood flow was good.
Professor Hong said, "After the surgery, the implanted arm needs to be well bleeding, so that normal recovery of the implanted arm can be expected, so we repeatedly checked during the operation."
With the successful completion of the surgery, Choi was now confirmed in a healthy state with no immune rejection reaction or other side effects.
Soon, rehabilitation treatment to improve the function of the implanted arm will begin.
This is because the ultimate goal of arm transplantation is to make the most of the motor and sensory functions of the hand to enable everyday life such as eating, getting dressed, and turning the doorknob.
Severance Hospital gave meaning to this surgery as the first successful case since hand and arm transplants were legalized in August 2018.
Earlier, there was a case of successful arm transplant surgery at W Hospital in Daegu in 2017, but at the time, the law was incomplete.
Severance Hospital also received advice from Daegu W Hospital in performing this arm transplant operation.
On the other hand, in order to receive a hand or arm transplant, at least 6 months must pass after amputation, and a hand or arm can be donated only from a brain-dead person who decides to donate vital organs such as the heart, liver, kidneys, and lungs at the hospital where the patient is registered.
However, it is difficult to find a target because the size, skin color, and soft tissue condition of the arm must be considered in addition to the immunological tests required for transplantation such as blood type and cross-reaction.
(Photo = Courtesy of Severance Hospital, Yonhap News)