Angie Duckworth, Transplant Social Worker, talks about what is discussed during the evaluation process for hand/arm transplant.
Hand transplant program surgeons – perform the transplant surgery. This may include:
Hand surgeons
Plastic and reconstructive surgeons
Orthopaedic surgeons
Research coordinator and/or nurse coordinator – guides patients along the process, from screening through after your transplant. This includes coordinating appointments, administering questionnaires, collecting research data, and relaying concerns back to the program physicians.
Radiologists – specialize in medical imaging.
Anesthesiologists – specialize in the care of patients before, during, and right after surgery, including administering anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, and pain medicine.
Pulmonologists – specialize in respiratory medicine, breathing function, and lung infections or diseases.
Transplant specialists – specialize in immunosuppression and interpreting results from bloodwork related to your immunosuppression and overall health as a transplant patient.
Psychologists and/or psychiatrists – assist in selecting hand/arm transplant candidates through psychological screening, and they help patients and their families navigate psychological issues or barriers.
Transplant infectious disease doctors – specialize in prevention, management, and treatment of infections or diseases in transplant patients.
Transplant social workers – specialize in assessing candidate social support, expectations regarding the transplant, patients’ long-term care plans, and connecting candidates and recipients to various resources.
The social worker will assess your understanding of treatment options, benefits, and risks involved in hand transplantation. The social worker will ask about your:
Fears or concerns about hand/arm transplantation
Social support system
Ability to learn new regimen after transplant
Work history and ability to take time off of work
Financial resources and access to healthcare/insurance coverage
Ability to relocate to live close to the transplant center and receive treatment
Commitment to intensive hand therapy rehabilitation and life-long immunosuppression after transplantation
Current treatment for anxiety, depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or other mental health issues
Substance use history (e.g., smoking, drinking, drugs), which can be detrimental after transplantation
Hand therapists – specialize in helping patients recover function following surgery; assess current function with (or without) prosthetics and your willingness to participate in hand and occupational therapy.
Additional Care Providers – include the following, who you may be asked to see depending on the results of your screening tests and evaluations.
Your dentist
Your primary care provider
An ophthalmologist
For women: Your gynecologist for a regular check-up
Consider talking to someone else who has received a hand/arm transplant. Your transplant team may be able to put you in touch with a recipient.
After the evaluation visit, several transplant team members sit down with the candidate and review their preliminary test results to see if the candidate appears to be eligible for hand/arm transplantation. This team may include the transplant program surgeons, physicians, and nurse coordinator.
Your transplant team will discuss the risks of hand/arm transplantation and help you to weigh all the risks in light of the potential benefits of hand/arm transplantation.
You and your transplant team will make the decision together about whether hand/arm transplantation is right for you. You will be prepared and informed along the way.
When considering a hand/arm transplant, it is important to know that the transplant evaluation process, the surgical procedure, and the recovery process can vary greatly between different people. What may be easy for one person (such as psychological factors involved with hand/arm transplantation), can be difficult for someone else. The same is true for surgical risks—a person’s current health status will affect their risks.
