The marvels of modern medicine have yet again made history with a successful double-hand transplant.
Ever since his was 12 years old, Luka Krizanac has suffered with crippled hands, and prosthetic legs. A skin infection that attacked his body was not taken care of properly, and caused major complications. The infection led to organ failure, and the removal of parts of his legs and hands.
Up until the age of 29, Luka Krizanac managed with his prosthetic legs, but no real replacement could make up for his lost hands. “As much as you try to build the comfort and confidence without hands … you’re always with someone assisting you. As much as you love them, as much as you care about them, you never have the chance to do it on your own, which ties into the fact that you’re also not able to fully develop as a person,” he said to Penn Medicine.
This was until a proposed double-hand transplant by Dr. L. Scott Levin and Dr. Benjamin Chang.
Double Hand Transplant Team Assembled
The plan began in 2016, when Krizanac met with the doctors and discussed the prospect of a hand transplant. Given the go-ahead, they began assembling a team and rehearsing the complicated procedure.
As well as practicing, they also needed to find a donor for Luka. This was no simple task. Hand donors aren’t exactly a dime a dozen. They needed to match blood type, tissue type, skin color, gender, and size. But, with time and patience, a donor was found who matched perfectly.
Amid setbacks, the doctors were prepared to start work on their double-hand transplant. “We know in that operating room, we will be having a life-changing impact on someone’s life, and we all keep that in mind as we perform each careful step or stitch each suture over the course of ten hours,” Dr. Scott Levin said.
The procedure took a total of ten hours, but the results were undeniable. The first-ever double-hand transplant was a success, and now Krizanac is able to return to a life he never thought he would have. Even better, he was able to give the surgeons a huge round of applause, once the six months of healing were up anyway.