World experience after more than a decade of clinical hand transplantation: update on the Polish program

It has been demonstrated over the past decade that the generally achieved functional outcomes of patients after hand transplantation (HTx) are better than those of equivalent replantations. However, HTx should be performed in specialized centers with Institutional Review Board-approved transplantation programs. In Poland such requirements are fulfilled by The Subdepartment of Replantation of Limbs of St. Jadwiga Hospital in Trzebnica. A main emphasis of this subdepartment is to make the very involved process of donor recruitment, recipient screening, surgery, and postoperative treatment fully transparent. This article summarizes the experience of this center with HTx over the past 5 years.