Just over three months after the operation, the patient has started using his hands to write and eat with cutlery, writes Södersjukhuset (Sös) in a press release.
Surgeons from Karolinska University Hospital also participated.
"Losing your hands means great suffering. We have been in contact with the patient for several years leading up to the hand transplant. Now it is fantastic to see how the patient gradually regains function in his new hands, which is a process that takes a long time and requires extensive rehabilitation," says Tobias Laurell, operations manager and hand surgeon at Sös.
The working group has been ready for the transplant for over two years, but has been waiting for a donor who matches. Blood type, antibodies, skin color and hand size must match.
The hands have made it through the first critical phases, but the final result will only be known after a couple of years. To prevent the hands from being rejected, immunosuppressive treatment is required for the rest of their lives.
"The patient began preparatory training several years before the surgery and just a few days afterwards, extensive rehabilitation began," says Henrietta Karlén, occupational therapist at Sös.
This is the second time a double hand transplant has been performed in Sweden. The first was done at Sahlgrenska in Gothenburg in 2020.
