In December, 2011, we reported that “A man in his 20’s who received the world’s first double leg transplant has begun walking in a swimming pool and will soon be able to move his rehabilitation exercise onto parallel bars.” Tragically, in a statement released this week by the hospital where the groundbreaking procedure was performed, the man has had to have both his legs amputated, after an unrelated illness forced him to stop taking anti-rejection drugs.
“The patient who had two legs transplanted at the Hospital La Fe in 2011 had to undergo an operation to amputate the two extremities,” the statement read, continuing, “The patient, who contracted an unrelated illness, had the two limbs amputated about a year and a half after the ground-breaking transplant”.
He had to stop taking immunosuppressant drugs required to prevent his body rejecting the transplant because the medicine was complicating the treatment of the illness he contracted, the hospital said.
The man had originally lost both his legs in a traffic accident, having had to have his limbs removed above the knee. Because of the height of the amputation, it would have been impossible for him to use prosthetic limbs, rendering him potentially wheelchair bound for life.
A team of more than 50 people took part in the operation, including surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists and transplant coordinators. Spanish surgeon Pedro Cavadas, who lead and performed the operation on July the 10th, 2011, at La Fe Hospital in Valencia, said that two weeks after the operation the patient was transferred from hospital to the Cavadas Clinic since when he has spent several hours a day doing rehabilitation exercises with no significant complications.
There is no doubt that this medical complication will be more than disappointing for those involved, none more so than the man given hope who has now had it taken away from him, but not without the legacy that the operation will carry, allowing further transplants and success well into the future.
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/39377/
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