World’s First Double Arm Transplant Makes German Farmer A Lucky Man

Having lost both his arms in an accident almost six years back, the 54 year old man from Germany became the first man ever to have undergone the rare double limb transplant operation on Friday, finally, to be fitted with two new limbs, in a unique first of its kind surgery in the world.

The operation which involved grafting the two arms on the body of the man took 15 hours to complete and is the first one ever conducted world over, as it involved not one, but two simultaneous organ transplants. As per Keith Rigg, vice president of the British Transplantation Society, the operation was the world's first double arm transplant.

The German man whose identity has not been disclosed had lost his arms shoulder down in an accident.

"The reattachment appears up to now to have proceeded optimally," said Reiner Gradinger medical director at the Munich University Clinic. He also added that the patient was making a good recovery.

The identity of the donor too was kept a secret, and all that is known is the fact that he died shortly before the surgery.

The procedure which was as complicated as it was time consuming, involved the dedicated effort of a team of 40, including the doctors, nurses and assistants who worked together to make the procedure a possibility.

According to surgeon Christoph Hoehnke, of the team, the procedure went off without any trouble. “The whole thing went according to script," Hoehnke said.

But the battle does not end here. In fact, from hence forth it is a new struggle all together as, the major concern lies in the fact that the patient’s body should accept the new organs and blood flow between the body and the new arm muscles should get established.

It is not unusual for transplant recipients to face lifetime complications after the operation resulting in years on anti rejection drugs, involving various side effects to top it all up.

Not only that, the donor tissue/ muscles which have a limited life have to establish blood flow with the body. This thus, is the main concern of the surgeons and they are keeping a strict vigil on the farmer, to ensure his immune systemdefine does not reject the new limbs.

It’ll take time before the patient is able to move his new arms. As per the doctors his network of nerves is expected to expand at a pace of around one millimeter (.04 inches) per day. But even at this optimistic pace, it would not be before two years that the man would attain total control over his limbs.

"The regeneration process will take a long time," said Hans-Guenther Machens, director of hand and plastic surgery at the clinic.

However, hope and consistent efforts would sail the man through the coming times. For, he is considered lucky by many, to have got the arms back in a way so unique and the first ever of its kind, world over.