In a breakthrough for science in India, the first upper arm transplant was successfully done at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi.
Shreya Siddanagowda is a 19 year old chemical engineering student who lost both her arms in an accident while traveling from Manipal to Pune in September 2016.
Shreya was forced to quit her education after the accident but life had more in store for her. Sachin a 20 year old BCom student, who recently died in a bike accident, was the donor for Shreya’s new life.
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Department head, Dr. Subrahmania Iyer led the operation with 19 other surgeons and a 16 member anesthetic team.
The surgery took a total of 13 hours to complete.
Dr. Iyer reported, “Upper arm transplants are more challenging than those at the wrist or forearm level due to the complexity involved in accurately identifying and connecting various nerves, muscles, tendons and arteries. Only nine such cases have been reported (in) the world. Rehabilitation also is more difficult because the patient bears the weight of the transplanted hands at the upper arm. In Shreya’s case, both transplants were done in the middle of the upper arm.”
The doctors involved in the surgery reported that Shreya had responded well to the transplanted arms.
Another doctor was quoted saying, “Shreya is currently undergoing a regime of movements for fingers, wrists and shoulders. We expect that she will regain 85 percent of hand function in the next one and a half years.”
Shreya’s father said, “We feel it’s a miracle that we got a donor the day we reached Kochi and registered our daughter. We went and met the family of the boy to thank them. The mother was still grieving but the family took the decision to donate his organs for their son’s sake.”
Shreya shared her experience, “My whole world collapsed and I couldn’t believe what had happened. When I was told by my mother that hand transplants were now being conducted in India, I got great strength and hope, and my disability began to look temporary. I felt that one day, I will again be able to lead a near normal life with a transplant. Hopefully, in the next couple of years, I will be able to lead a near normal and happy life. I want to continue my studies and fulfill all my dreams that I had before the accident.”
