Hospitals in Karnataka will soon be carrying out hand transplantation
- The State, which has seen a steady rise in organ donations over the years, does not have a hospital that has a licence for hand transplantation.
- With no hospital from the State registered with Jeevasarthakathe — the State government’s nodal body that approves cadaveric organ donations — for hand transplant, the donated hands were sent to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry.
- Preserved in a chemical solution and wrapped in ice slush, the hands travelled 300 km in three hours from Narayana Health City in Bengaluru to JIPMER, where they were transplanted in a person who had lost both his hands in a factory accident.
- However, this scenario is all set to change. Hand transplants may soon become a reality in Karnataka, with a couple of hospitals applying for transplantation licence with the State government.
- The hand transplantation programme requires a specialised team of plastic surgeons, orthopaedics, and physiotherapists, apart from an excellent immunotherapy facility, said Anand K., Chief of Cosmetics, Plastic, and Reconstructive Surgery at the hospital.
- The country’s first hand transplant was conducted at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre (AIMS) in Kochi in 2015.
