Hand Surgery Specialist and Transplants

A hand surgery specialist can perform many types of reparations and reconstructions on human hands. One of the techniques now being offered in some cases is an actual transplant. This is a very complicated operation that requires an expert in this field. It involves taking a donor forearm and hand and attaching it to a patient's arm. The surgical specialist will need to reconnect nerves, muscles, bones, skin and blood pathways. This may be performed on a person who has suffered the loss of his or her own through an accident of some sort. Here are some things to know about this procedure.

Transplants are Complex

Transplantations are complex not only because of the surgery itself but because of multiple factors. For one thing, donors must align with the patients' gender, size, complexion and blood type. A burly man would look odd with a feminine hand attached. The size wouldn't match either and the visual result would be awkward. These donor limbs come from a person who has recently died and opted to be an organ donor or who gave his or her body to science. This is a generous gift, indeed, as it gives the living another chance in having a fuller life.

Another factor in these operations is making sure the patient's body doesn't reject the new appendage. One way a person stays well is by rejecting foreign objects or substances in the body. This is a way of maintaining homeostasis, another word for a stable self. Although the new fingers, thumb, palm and forearm are initially "foreign," the goal is for the patient's system to accept the transplanted parts as his or her own. This will be done via the use of immune system suppressing drugs.

Medical Follow-up

The operation itself is quite lengthy and the follow-up process and recovery can take years. A hand surgery specialist, nurses and physical therapists will be part of a "team" following up on the individual's progress for years to come. These medical professionals will take many steps to monitor the results and well-being of the individual including making sure blood is circulating well and that the body is accepting the new body part. Meds will need to be taken every day to keep the immune system from rejecting the transplanted parts. These medications are called immunosuppressants.

Any challenges in these areas would be treated immediately in order to keep the recovery moving in a positive direction. Physical therapists are medical experts who are trained in anatomy, physiology and will design exercise regimes to help patients recover from accidents, surgeries and other mobility hampering issues. A regime will be designed for a transplant patient by the physical therapists to help the individual regain coordination, movement and use of the new limb.

A hand surgery specialist can do many amazing things to help patients have full use of their hands. These body parts are an integral tool for living in the world and without them, everything becomes more difficult. Now, medical science has made another technological leap by being able to perform transplants of these appendages.