‘Artificial limbs to be attached to donors’ bodies’: Expert panel chalks out new guidelines for hand transplant

According to the new guidelines, artificial limbs will be attached to the bodies of donors, whose hands have been removed for transplant.

4 min readPuneJul 9, 2019 08:28 AM IST

transplant, organ transplant, hand transplant, artificial limbs, health, donors, patient, doctors, hospital, pune news, indian express news

The expert hand committee will decide whether the donor hand is good enough to be used for the transplant. (Representational Image)

An expert committee set up by the Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation – and State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO-SOTTO) has chalked out new guildelines for hand transplants. According to the new guidelines, artificial limbs will be attached to the bodies of donors, whose hands have been removed for transplant.

“It may not be a life and death situation, but a hand transplant is crucial for the patient whose limbs have been amputated in accidents. The guidelines have specified that the there should be no prior injury to the donor’s hands or any nerve affectation. The expert hand committee will decide whether the donor hand is good enough to be used for the transplant. Once the hand is removed from the donor, an artificial limb will be attached so that when the body is given back to the donor’s relatives, they will not find any mutilation,” Dr Vinita Puri, chairperson of the expert committee told The Indian Express.

Maharashtra has three authorised hand transplant units — two in Mumbai and one in Pune. Command hospital in Pune was the first to attempt a hand transplant last year, which, however, did not yield the desired result. Dr Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, director, ROTTO-SOTTO Maharashtra, said a team of experts have finalised the guidelines, which have been submitted to the Directorate of Health Services.

“Unlike solid organs like kidney, liver and heart, hand transplants are not life saving but they dramatically improve the quality of life of patients, particularly those who have lost both hands. The alternative is prosthetic rehabilitation, which has its own drawbacks. Currently in Maharashtra, we have five patients on the waiting list for hand transplants,” said Gajiwala.

“Hand transplant is a life-long commitment to treatment. The patient has to take special medications (immunosuppressant drugs). Patients who want to undergo a unilateral hand transplant also have to be counselled that they will be on lifetime immunosuppressant drugs,” said Dr Puri, who also heads the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive Surgery and Burns at Seth G S Medical College and KEM hospital, Mumbai.

Hand transplantation is an extremely complex procedure. The surgery can last from 12 to 16 hours. In comparison, a typical heart transplant takes six to eight hours and a liver transplant, eight to 12 hours.

According to the new guidelines, a recipient has to be a patient with amputated upper limb unilateral or bilateral at levels distal to mid arm. Patients can be listed for hand transplant through only one centre within the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation area. Experts said there should be no implant inside the limb and have ruled out a deformed hand for transplant. “It is also important that appropriate consent is taken from the relatives of the donors before the limb can be used for transplant,” Puri said, adding that donors’ families have to be encouraged and counselled.

25 years of THOTA Act

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‘At least a million for a billion’ is a campaign being conducted by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) to collect the maximum number of pledges to donate organs and tissue on the occasion of 25 years of Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA) on Monday. The Act was passed by the Parliament on July 8, 1994 and then amended in 2011. It paved the way for deceased organ donations by recognising brain stem death.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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