Duke Hand Surgery Performs First Hand Transplant in North Carolina

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Duke's first hand transplant is performed on May 27, 2016. Led by surgeon Dr. Linda Cendales, two teams worked to attach a donor hand and forearm onto the left arm of Rene Chavez, 54. Chavez, who lives in Laredo, Texas, lost his hand in an accident when he was four-years-old. Here Dr. Cendales changes dressings on Thursday, June 2, 2016. Shawn Rocco/Duke Health

Photo by Shawn Rocco/Duke Health

The Duke Hand Surgery team, comprised of orthopaedics, plastics, and surgery team members Drs. David Ruch, Marc Richard, Suhail Mithani, Detlev Erdmann, and Linda Cendales performed the first hand transplant in North Carolina, attaching the limb to a 54-year-old patient from Laredo, Texas, whose hand was severed in a childhood accident.

After meticulous planning, the highly complex, 12-hour procedure was performed May 27, 2016, by the team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, operating room staff and technicians.

Duke is one of only about 10 hospitals in the U.S. that has performed a hand transplant. The surgery is difficult, involving an intricate process of connecting bone, blood vessels, muscle, nerve, tendons, and skin. Matching the limb from a deceased donor is also complex, as is the control of rejection, adding to the rarity of the procedure.

Watch video animation of hand transplant procedure.

Read more at:

Doctors at Duke perform NC’s first hand transplant, WRAL

Duke Doctors Perform State’s First Hand Transplant, WTVD (also ran on Yahoo and ABC stations throughout US)

Duke Health performs first hand transplant in the state, WNCN

Duke Doctors Perform First Hand Transplant in NC, TWC News

Texas Man Gets First Hand Transplant Done in North Carolina, AP/ABC News (carried widely in Texas and NC)

Laredoan Receives Hand Transplant, KGNS (Laredo, TX)

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