In the United States was unique transplant surgery of the elbow with one hand to the other.
Specialists from the Medical center at the University of California (USA) conducted the transplant surgery on the elbow with the left hand of the patient on the right. Transplantation took place in April 2016, but only now doctors announced the successful experience.
The patient is a 37-year-old Reginald Cooke, who in 2009 got into a car accident. A few months after the accident, cook has been in a coma, his legs were paralyzed, and the left hand is male, as she could not manage due to the rupture of the brachial plexus. In addition, the elbow of the right hand was fractured, causing the mobility of this limb was severely limited.
The doctors decided to amputate the left arm of the patient, and her elbow transplant on his right hand that, according to doctors, will restore the functionality of the limb. The decision to start preparations for the transplant were taken at the end of 2015. The operation was accompanied by serious risk to the cook, as in the case of failure, it could completely lose the use of my right hand. In order to minimize the likelihood of complications, scientists have used 3D-modeling limbs cook.
The operation, which involved 10 doctors, lasted 12 hours. Doctors managed to remove first, and then to connect bones, nerves, muscles and blood vessels. Now the patient is recovering from surgery, he can raise his right hand to his face and to his mouth. During the year he will be able to learn how to eat and dress, according to the doctors, and in that case, if the hand are strong enough, there is a chance that cook will begin to walk, leaning on a cane.
