The first face transplant in Belgium
At the end of 2011, the transplant team at University Hospital in Ghent, led by Prof. Phillip Blondeel, performed the first face transplant in Belgium. The surgery was completely successful and went smoothly. The patient is doing very well. Six days after surgery the patient could speak his first words and drink.
This is the 19th face transplant in the world. Belgium is also the third country in Europe, after France and Spain, that can now offer this surgery.
The Ethics Committee and the management of the University Hospital Gent gave before the agreement and fully support to the project. The surgery has almost three years been prepared by a team of about 65 people, with participation of 15 medical and 14 paramedical services of Ghent University Hospital. The teamwork and coordination between all the different services was essential in the smooth running of the surgery and post-operative care.
Extremely heavy facial traumas remain a problem in current medicine. Fortunately, these trauma are less and less common in our society. Nowadays, classic reconstructive techniques can only partly restore the function of the face (voice, breathing, swallowing, eating, drinking, mimic non-verbal expression, etc ...), mostly by several expensive surgical procedures associated with a long rehabilitation. Face transplants will allow, in one single operation, to give back all the normal vital functions of the face.
The University Hospital Gent aims to become a center for allotransplantation (transplantation of tissue between two different people) of composite tissues to set alongside the allready existing transplant center for organs. Apart of the face, in the future, transplants of the hands, arms, abdomen and other parts of the body that are difficult to repair will be carried out. This first face transplant is only the first step.
Acknowledgement:
Support for this procedure was given by Materialise
This is the 19th face transplant in the world. Belgium is also the third country in Europe, after France and Spain, that can now offer this surgery.
The Ethics Committee and the management of the University Hospital Gent gave before the agreement and fully support to the project. The surgery has almost three years been prepared by a team of about 65 people, with participation of 15 medical and 14 paramedical services of Ghent University Hospital. The teamwork and coordination between all the different services was essential in the smooth running of the surgery and post-operative care.
Extremely heavy facial traumas remain a problem in current medicine. Fortunately, these trauma are less and less common in our society. Nowadays, classic reconstructive techniques can only partly restore the function of the face (voice, breathing, swallowing, eating, drinking, mimic non-verbal expression, etc ...), mostly by several expensive surgical procedures associated with a long rehabilitation. Face transplants will allow, in one single operation, to give back all the normal vital functions of the face.
The University Hospital Gent aims to become a center for allotransplantation (transplantation of tissue between two different people) of composite tissues to set alongside the allready existing transplant center for organs. Apart of the face, in the future, transplants of the hands, arms, abdomen and other parts of the body that are difficult to repair will be carried out. This first face transplant is only the first step.
Acknowledgement:
Support for this procedure was given by Materialise