New Delhi: For the first time, a registry has been set up in the country for patients requiring hand transplants, officials said, adding that this will enable transplantation of donated organs to needy patients in a transparent manner and on a priority basis.

For this, needy patients will be able to register in the national registry created by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), which comes under the Union Health Ministry. Dr. Subramanyam Iyer, Professor at Amrita Hospital and School of Medicine, Kochi, Kerala, said that setting up the registry and allocating hands across India on a priority basis will encourage donation. Along with this, the donated hands will also be used properly.

Information given to the states

Dr Iyer led the team that performed the first hand transplant in India in 2015. Dr Anil Kumar, Director, NOTTO, recently wrote to all states and union territories informing them about the registry and asked them to disseminate it to all hand transplant centres and hospitals for compliance.

Dr. Kumar said that hand transplantation is increasing in the country. Hand transplantation is being done in more and more centers. According to NOTTO, currently nine hospitals are registered for hand transplantation in the country. So far 36 patients have received hands in these hospitals. Dr. Iyer said that usually organ donation is done after 'brain death', but hand donation can be done after 'brain death' as ​​well as after death due to cardiac arrest.

Donations are coming in large numbers

In case of death due to cardiac arrest, the hand should be donated within half an hour of the heart stopping functioning and this should be done in a controlled environment within the hospital. Dr. Iyer said that hands come under the category of 'composite tissue' and now due to increased awareness, more and more patients are seeking hand transplant and more number of donations are being made. Therefore, the registration process is being started.

Dr. Kumar said that this will help NOTTO in the allocation process for hand transplantation and data management of donors and recipients. Awareness is increasing in the country now. Along with this, the number of hospitals doing hand transplantation is also increasing. Let us tell you, hand transplantation started in India in 2015, when both the hands of a 29-year-old man were transplanted.