First Legs Transplant Ever Was Successful

Dr. Pedro Cadavas

Spanish surgeon Pedro Cavadas, led the team of doctors who performed the first successful transplantation of legs in the world. The surgery began last night and ended this morning at Hospital La Fe in Valencia, sources of the Department of Health confirmed.

It is not the first time that Cavadas has performed such complex surgery; in August 2009 he performed the first face transplant that also included jaw and tongue on a 43-year-old man and in 2008, he was responsible for the reintroduction of the right leg of a 20-year-old man after he lost it in a work accident.

It is necessary to wait at least 48 hours to know the patient’s progress. When the National Transplant Organization (ONT) approved the intervention (2010), it reported that the patient who is going to receive both legs suffered an amputation and could not tolerate prosthesis, so this transplant was the only option he had to be able to walk again. The Health Ministry has appealed to the confidentiality of donor and patient and has asked for “prudence” when reporting the case.

(MS)

Source: DPA, El País Newspaper