First full two-arm transplant is done

A German farmer who lost his arms in an accident has been successfully fitted with two new limbs in what is believed to be the first complete double arm transplant, his surgeons said.

Reiner Gradinger, medical director at the Munich University Clinic, said doctors spent 15 hours last week attaching the arms to a 54-year-old man who had lost his just below the shoulder six years ago.

“The reattachment appears up to now to have proceeded optimally,” Gradinger said, adding the patient was recovering well.

The farmer’s name was not released, nor was the identity of the donor, who had died shortly before the surgery.