Personal Injury Blog

Nation’s First Full Face Transplant Provides Hope to Victims of Catastrophic Facial Injuries

September 1st, 2011
First US Full Face transplant

This is the country's first full face transplant.

This week, doctors at Massachusetts’ Brigham and Women’s Hospital announced that they have successfully performed the country’s first full face transplant.  The surgery was performed on a 25-year-old construction worker from Texas, who had suffered horrific injuries to his face during a power line accident in 2008.  Los Angeles catastrophic injury attorneys believe that this surgery could one day help more and more people who have suffered horrific facial injuries in auto/trucking and workplace accidents.

The recipient of the transplant, 25-year-old Dallas Wiens had suffered serious electrical burns during a power line accident.  The accident left him with one sightless eye, no lips nor nose.  All that was left after the high-voltage accident was a small section of his chin, and a mouth without lips.  That changed earlier this week when doctors performed the country’s first full-face transplant on the man.

The surgery took more than 15 hours, and involved more than 30 doctors who took turns performing microscopic surgery.  The face came from a donor – a brain-dead young man.  The doctors attached the donor’s nose, skin, lips muscles and nerves to the few remaining muscles and nerves on the patient’s face.  According to doctors, the transplant has been a success.  The new face has not been revealed to the world yet.

At some point in the future, doctors hope to restore sight to the worker’s remaining sightless eye.  According to them, over the next few weeks, he will begin regaining the sensation of the right cheek.  He will be able to use his new face to eat and speak.

For someone who has lived with a blank canvas for a face for more than two years after the horrific workplace accident, having a new face and being able to express emotions, smile and talk will be like a breath of new life.  Los Angeles personal injury attorneys also believe that there are great possibilities that the surgery holds for other victims of catastrophic injury in the future.

This particular study was sponsored by the US military, which invested more than $3 million in research into full facial transplants.  Every year, the military deals with thousands of injured soldiers, returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with catastrophic facial injuries.  Many of these soldiers have been shot in the face, leaving them with horrific and debilitating injuries.  The military has focused its efforts on developing a face transplant procedure that can be used for its own vets returning from war zones.

Los Angeles injury lawyers also believe that a full face transplant can be used for other victims of catastrophic injury in Los Angeles.  For instance, a person who has had his face severely mauled in a dog bite attack may benefit from a transplant.  Besides, persons who have suffered severe third-degree burn injuries to the face, in an industrial accident or in an auto/trucking accident, may also find that a face transplant helps restore some normalcy to their appearance.

 

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