Joseph E. Kutz, M.D. led a team of hand surgeons from the Kleinert Kutz Hand Care Center and the Christine M. Kleinert Institute to perform  the eighth hand transplant in our seventh recipient in a 14 ½ hour procedure on July 10, 2011.   

The recipient, Mr. Donnie Rickelman, is 36 years old and is from Elwood, IN.  He lost his hand in a factory accident in 1998.  The procedure went smoothly, and surgeons were able to preserve some of Mr. Rickelman’s nerves in the remnant of his left hand which should speed recovery of sensation and movement in the hand.  Mr. Rickelman was able to move his fingers the day after surgery and continues to progress well.  Additional information on the transplant, as well as a video diary of Mr. Rickelman’s progress can be found at http://www.handtransplant.com/.  Recovery of the hand from the donor was coordinated with KKA surgeons and a collaboration between the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) and the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization (IOPO). 

The team for the transplant consisted of 19 hand surgeons and included:  Joseph E. Kutz, MD, Huey Tien, MD, Rodrigo Moreno, MD, Tsu-Min Tsai, MD, Luis R. Scheker, MD, Tuna Ozyurekoglu, MD, Sunil M. Thirkannad, MD, and Rodrigo Banegas, MD, as well as Christiana Savviduo, MD, Joao Panattoni, MD, Timothy Prichnic, MD, Bahar Bassiri, MD, Jose Couceiro, MD, Saad Elrahmany, MD, Elkin Galvis, MD, Jung-Hsien Hsieh, MD, Xueyuan Li, MD, Antonio Rampazzo, MD, and Jiyao Zou, MD. 

We will post further updates and milestones as they become available.