Transplanted Hands Of Amputee Have Mysteriously Changed Color

Back in 2016, a road accident took away both the hands of 21-year-old Shreya Siddanagowder. When the accident happened, the girl was traveling from Pune, her hometown, to Karnataka where she was studying at a college. She registered for a double hand transplant at the Amrita Institute. And miraculously, on that same day, the doctors found a donor for her.

On the waiting list, there were around 200 other people but she was lucky that she was compatible with the donor. And on that same day, her transplant was carried out.

The operation lasted 13 hours with 20 surgeons and 16 anesthesiologists. The bones were attached first, then came the arteries, veins and muscle tendons. After everything was done, the doctor stitched the skin on the hands of the donor to that of Shreya.

The procedure was successful. But it was only the beginning. For half a year, the young girl underwent intensive physiotherapy to get her body acquainted with her transplanted hands.

It took time for peripheral nerves to develop. And every day, the sensation in her transplanted hands grew from 1 to 2 millimeters. But doctors, as well as the family members of Shreya, started to notice interesting changes in the new hands of the girl.

Shreya’s donor was a Sachin, a male college student. After a motorcycle accident, the doctors declared that he was brain dead. It is not common to come across hand transplants in India since families are not willing to donate limbs, fearing the disfigurement of the bodies of their loved ones. However, Sachin’s parents agreed to donate his hands as well as other organs to help others live.

One of the changes was the transplanted hands started to lose the extra fat to match Shreya’s lean arms. Her mother also noticed that the girl’s fingers had become leaner and longer.

But hand coloration was probably the most remarkable change. As time passed, the transplanted hands became lighter to match Shreya’s skin tone.

KEM Hospital’s head of dermatology, Dr. Uday Khopkar said:

Amrita Institute’s head of plastic and reconstructive surgery, Dr. Subramania Iyer said:

Shreya is now able to do everything she used to do before the accident.

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