Tamil Nadu's government hospital hands out new lease of life to man

CHENNAI: After two weeks of receiving new hands from a brain-dead patient, R Narayanasamy (29) from Dindigul district, for the first time in three years felt pricking sensation in his hands, thanks to a team of doctors and the kin of a brain-dead patient who donated his hands recently. Narayanasamy lost both his hands while at work at a construction site in 2015. Since then he became dependent on his parents for everything.

On February 7, a medical team, headed by Dr V Rama Devi, head of Plastic Surgery Department, Government Stanley Medical College Hospital, performed bilateral hand transplant, harvesting hands from Venkatesan, the brain-dead patient from Manali.

“My brother was taking care of our family. He is the only male child in our family. He was the one who got all three sisters married. Ever since he lost his hands in electrocution at his work site, he became dependent on my parents for daily activities,” said R Vanitha, younger sister of Narayanasamy.

“He has sensation in his hands now. He even told us he could feel pricking and tickling sensation in his hands. We are happy to hear that and hope my brother will able to lead a normal life again soon,” Vanitha added.

Dr Rama Devi said it would take another three or six months for hands mobilisation as the nerves in hands have to grow. After that, rehabilitation with physiotherapy has to be started. The patient is stable now and kept on observation, she added.

Bilateral hands transplant was performed for the first time in the government sector in Tamil Nadu, said Health Minister C Vijaya Basker, who also inaugurated the Continuous Medical Education (CME) programme on hand transplant and wound care conducted by the Plastic Surgery department of the hospital.

The minister also distributed appreciation certificates to the team of doctors who performed the 13-hour surgery. Health secretary J Radhakrishnan, Director of Medical Education Dr A Edwin Joe and Dr S Ponnambala Namasivayam, dean of the hospital, also participated in the event.

Pioneering Field of Bilateral transplants

Hand transplants are the first of a new category of transplants where multiple organs are transplanted as a single functional unit. This is termed Vascularised Composite Allo-transplantation (VCA)
While the first attempt was made in 1640s, the first prolonged success was reported in the year 1999 in America

After hand transplant, one has to undergo rigorous occupational and physical therapy, for around a year. Relearning usage of limbs is an important factor

The operation typically lasts from 8–14 hours. By comparison, a heart transplant operation lasts
six to eight hours

Organ rejection is the most common issue in such operations. From the first attempt, what has been perfected over the years is the immunosuppressants used to make sure the new organ is not rejected