They will be sewing hands back on from the dead. The Trzebnica hospital is the only one in Poland that can perform this type of transplant.

This is a huge success for the Trzebnica facility. After many years, the hospital has once again been accredited to perform upper limb transplants. This is a credit to the entire team.

The Trzebnica hospital gained fame in the 1970s thanks to Professor Ryszard Kocięba , whose team performed the first hand reattachment surgery in Europe and the third in the world. Replantations, as we're talking about here, were performed at our facility for many years afterward. The center became so specialized in them that it was common knowledge that anyone who lost a finger, hand, or arm was immediately brought to the hospital in Trzebnica.

In 2006, Professor Kocięba's successor, Professor Jerzy Jabłecki, MD, PhD, and his team performed the first hand transplant, reattaching an organ from a deceased donor. It was a huge success. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic later struck, and the facility lost its accreditation.

For several years now, the Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery has been headed by Dr. Ahmed Elsaftawy, MD . He and his team, in collaboration with the Wrocław Military Hospital, have secured re-accreditation for upper limb transplantation.

On this occasion, a press conference was held at the hospital on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., during which the results of the accreditation received were explained.

The meeting was opened by the hospital's director, Jarosław Maroszek , who congratulated the entire team. He said it was an opportunity to once again bring fame to our facility. Indeed, his words were echoed by both Dr. Ahmed Elsaftawy and Prof. Dorota Kamińska , a specialist in nephrology and clinical transplantology.

"Limb replantation involves attaching a hand, finger, or arm to a patient's own body, for example, after accidents or agricultural injuries. It's a purely surgical procedure. Transplantation, on the other hand, involves attaching an organ from a donor—in this case, a deceased person—to a complete stranger. So, in addition to the surgical issues, we're also dealing with a reaction from our immune system, " explains Prof. Dorota Kamińska . "Our immune system treats this transplant as something foreign, like a bacterium, like a virus, and tries to fight it off."

Doctors' job is to prevent this from happening. A series of tests must be performed and compatibility checked, as such a transplant isn't always possible. Importantly, after the procedure, the patient must take medications that suppress their immune system so that the reattached limb can be accepted by the patient's body. Such surgeries often last several hours and require a full team of specialists. We asked Dr. Ahmed Elsaftawy what it's like behind the scenes, how can one endure so many hours at the surgical table? Do the doctors eat or drink anything during this time?

"Fortunately, humans have something called the sympathetic nervous system. And the precursor that stimulates this system is... adrenaline, " Dr. Elsaftawy says with a smile, adding: "It all starts after the first phone call, when the facility receives the signal that a donor has been found for our patient. The adrenaline level rises so much that we can accomplish the seemingly impossible task. During the operation, we feel neither tired nor exhausted. We simply want to reach the point where we consider the patient safe. And then we can leave the operating room and finally go home and get some sleep."

The doctor admitted that because the surgery is performed by an entire team, including several surgeons, it's possible for one specialist to temporarily replace another. During this time, the patient can enjoy a meal or a cup of tea. The accreditation is a huge success for the Trzebnica facility and an opportunity for growth. However, it's long been known that complex medical procedures generate significant costs.

"Yes, that's true, but we hope that soon we will be able to sign a special agreement with the Ministry of Health, which will reimburse our expenses. Furthermore, I hope that we will be able to obtain funds for the necessary renovations and equipment of the facility. We have an excellent team of specialists, and it is worth restoring Trzebnica to its rightful place among Polish medical facilities, " says Director Jarosław Maroszek, and his words are confirmed by Starost Małgorzata Matusiak, who promised that the Starost's Office will support the facility to the best of its ability and will strive to find additional sources of funding.