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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffHand transplant is a treatment option for people who have had one or both hands amputated. In a hand transplant, you receive one or two donor hands and a portion of the forearms from a person who has died. Hand transplants are performed in only a few transplant centers worldwide.
Although not guaranteed, a hand transplant may help you regain some hand function and sensation. While a hand transplant can improve your quality of life, it is a lifelong commitment to treatment. You'll need to take special medications (immunosuppressants) and have routine physical therapy and doctor appointments to check on the condition of your donor hands.
- Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Hand and arm transplantation. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2010.
- Information for potential hand transplant patients. Composite Tissue Allotransplantation. http://www.handtransplant.com/TheProcedure/InfoforPotentialPatients/tabid/103/Default.aspx. Accessed Jan. 12, 2011.
- Petruzzo P, et al. The International Registry on Hand and Composite Tissue Transplantation. Transplantation. 2010;90:1590.
- Lanzetta M, et al. Second report (1998-2006) of the International Registry of Hand and Composite Tissue Transplantation. Transplant Immunology. 2007;18:1.
- Kaufman CL, et al. A new option for amputees: Transplantation of the hand. Journal of Rehabilitaion Research and Development. 2009;46:395.
- Cendales L, et al. Implementation of vascularized composite allografts in the United States: Recommendations from the ASTS VCA Ad Hoc Committee and the Executive Committee. American Journal of Transplantation. 2011;11:13.
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