A patient who wishes to be considered for hand transplantation in our service will usually have lost all or most of one or both hands.
The causes for the loss vary from injury, burns and electrocution to sepsis and sometimes disease.
Regrettably, patients born without their hands or parts of their hands are not at present suitable for transplantation. This is because the important structures (nerves and muscles) are also not present and so cannot be connected to a donor hand.
Some patients may be excluded if they have had recent cancers, or one of a number of rare but severe infections.
Generally children below the age of six can not be considered for transplantation following the loss of one or more hands. This is for complex reasons including obtaining informed consent. Due to the length of the assessment process undertaken before a patient can be listed for transplant, some patients in their early teens may be able to start the process whilst waiting to turn 18.
Patients are assessed very thoroughly. Some medical conditions may exclude them from surgery, and others may find as they begin to understand more about the process that they no longer wish to proceed.
