Double Hand Transplant Completed with Live Twitter Updates
Kentucky's first double hand transplant was completed Wednesday at Louisville's Jewish Hospitial Hand Care Center. Surgeons documented the surgery by using Twitter to provide short, real-time updates as the procedure took place.
According to lead surgeon Dr. Warren Breidenbach, it was the first time that doctors were able to use the nerves of the patient's own hands for the procedure. "We were able to salvage tissue from the hand to help reconstruct the new hand. So in essence we were able to take a hand from the donor and then drape it or slot it over the structures which we could save in the hand which were functional and would help it," said Breidenbach.
During the procedure, a laptop placed just outside the operating suite was used to document the procedure. Christiana Savvidou, a fellow hand M.D., was an inactive participant in the surgery but was focused on providing live documentation of this first-ever procedure.
"We live in a real-time world today where people want to know what's happening as it is happening," said Marty Bonick, president and CEO, Jewish Hospital Medical Campus. "This is a chance for us to tell the world about our latest hand transplant as it happens and also take the mystery out of an innovative procedure."
The procedure lasted a total of 17.5 hours from start to finish. Pictures and short, live updates were provided during the procedure. This allowed friends and family to follow the surgery online rather than get occasional updates throughout the procedure from hospital personnel.
Posted by Shane Alan Andersen
