The transplant recipient is a 32 year-old man who lost his right, dominant upper limb on the level of the midpoint of his forearm in an accident 14 years ago. After a comprehensive pretransplantation evaluation and informed consent process he received a transplant of the right forearm, matched for size and skin tone, of a brain-dead man aged 47. The donor's limb was amputated at the elbow and irrigated with UW solution. We dissected the donor and recepient limbs simultaneously. Appropriate lengths of anatomical structures were matched. Bone fixation was performed with Rush pins, without bony transplants; the muscles were anastomosed in layers and the skin wound was closed without a skin transplant. The cold ischemia time was 10.5 hours. Immunosuppresion included simulect, tacrolimus, mycophenolic acid, and prednisone. Maintanance therapy included tacrolimus (15 ng/ml), mycophenolic acid, and encorton.
There were no intraoperative or early postoperative complications. No episodes of rejection were observed. Immunosupression was well tolerated. The intensive physiotherapy led to satisfactory progress of motor function recovery. Reinnervation was excellent, and after 6 months, Tinel's sign was present over 40% of the respective lengths of the median and ulnar nerves. Follow-up included routine post-transplant laboratory tests, skin biopsies, bacteriological tests, and physiotherapy.
