Chennai: Health minister C Vijaya Baskar paid a visit to 29-year-old Narayanaswamy at Stanley Medical College and Hospital, as he underwent the first dual hand transplant done by a government hospital in the state.
A mason by profession, Narayanaswamy lost both hands due to electrocution in 2015. M. Venkatesan, a resident of Manali who was declared brain dead after a severe brain injury dead was the donor of limbs for Narayanaswamy.
A team of doctors led by Dr V Ramadevi, head of the plastic surgery department at the Government Stanley Hospital, performed the surgery on Narayanaswamy on February 7, 2018. The surgery that lasted for 13 hours was announced successful after the patient resumed limb functioning to some extent.
The recipient underwent exercises and physiotherapy to bring movement into the hands. He can now lift his hand himself, join hands, turn switches off and on and can easily use smartphone, however, the fingers are yet to get complete movement and it can take around six months for the same," said Dr Ramadevi.
Doctors also said it can take about two years for the limbs to act like normal hands of an individual, however, the patient needs basic exercises
and movement thera-pies.
Stanley Medical College and Hospital had done similar limb attachments on several trauma victims, but this surgery was first time performed at a government hospital using a pair of hands that belonged to another person.
There are various challenges surrounding the transplant as the recipient's body may reject the new body part and the immuno-suppressants can also lead to complications, however, this surgery was successfully completed and the patient is recovering well, said doctors from the team.
