Preparing the Recipient

Hand transplantation (HT) has to be considered an experimental surgery in process of evaluation. It does not really represent any significant advance in surgical technique and has been possible thanks to the techniques developed in replantation microsurgery over the last 40 years combined with advances in the knowledge of transplantation immunology [1]–[4]. Although technically similar to replantation, worldwide experience accumulated since the first successful HT in 1998 [5] has revealed certain peculiarities important to consider while planning and performing this surgical technique, where any quantity and quality requirement of different anatomical structures can be harvested from the donor [1]. This fact has some specific impact on the preparation stage in the recipient.