Polish doctors conduct major face transplantation surgery

Doctors from the Cancer Center in Gliwice, Poland, have recently conducted a major face transplantation surgery.

The patient, hurt by an agricultural machine, has lost the whole scalp with hair as well as facial and neck skin.

The team of doctors from the Oncology and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic in the Cancer Center in Gliwice, led by professor Adam Maciejewski, managed to replant the whole surface.

Although face and head skin replants are being made worldwide, however, so far there were no news about a surgery covering such a huge surface. Therefore, this surgery is supposed to be the biggest internationally.

The patient, a 26-year-old girl, fell a victim of an accident a week ago, when an agricultural machine plucked her scalp, including the forehead area, nasal bridge, superciliary arch, fragments of ears, parietal, temporal, occipital parts as well as parts of neck skin. Some of the muscles were ruptured.

After 8-hour surgery, the team managed to replant the whole area, Professor Maciejewski informed on Monday during a press briefing.

The first three days following the surgery were crucial, the doctors observed whether the replanted tissues are properly supplied with blood vessels, without any traces of necrosis.

So far, everything seems to be fine, however complications, such as blood clots still cannot be excluded. The doctors, however, are optimistic.

The patient still has to stay hospitalized for at least a few weeks. Afterwards, rehabilitation of replanted face will be needed.

The team of doctors have previously conducted hundreds of reconstruction surgeries on patients suffering from facial skeleton cancers. They also successfully conducted two face transplantation surgeries. Endit