Hand transplantation

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Hand transplantation, or simply a hand transplant, is a surgical procedure to transplant a hand from one human to another. The donor hand, usually from a brain-dead donor, is transplanted to a recipient amputee. Most hand transplants to date have been performed on below-elbow amputees, although above-elbow transplants are gaining popularity. Hand transplants were the first of a new category of transplants where multiple organs are transplanted as a single functional unit, now termed vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA).

The operation is quite extensive and typically lasts from 8 to 12 hours. In comparison, a typical heart transplant operation lasts 6 to 8 hours. Surgeons usually connect the bones first, followed by tendons, arteries, nerves, veins, and skin.