First hand transplant procedure in Australia: outcome at 2 years

Abstract

Australia’s first hand transplant procedure was performed in 2011. The recipient was a right-handed 65-year-old man who had had amputations of all four limbs. He was previously a self-employed plumber, who developed pneumococcal sepsis in 2006 on a background of a traumatic splenectomy 32 years earlier. Progressive gangrene of his extremities necessitated amputation of his hands at the trans metacarpal level bilaterally. A faux thumb on the left enabled rudimentary function of abduction and adduction (Box 1). He required full assistance with upper limb functional tasks. Both feet were amputated, necessitating prostheses.