Prime Highlights:
- Spain has successfully performed the world’s first face transplant using tissue from a donor who chose medically assisted dying.
- The breakthrough marks a major advance in complex transplant and reconstructive medicine.
Key Facts:
- The surgery was carried out at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital by a team of nearly 100 healthcare professionals.
- Medical assistance in dying has been legal in Spain since 2021, allowing advance consent for organ and tissue donation.
Background:
A hospital in Spain has made history by carrying out the world’s first face transplant using tissue from a donor who chose medically assisted dying. The surgery marks a major advance in transplant and reconstructive medicine.
The operation was performed at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital by a team of nearly 100 healthcare professionals. Medical assistance in dying has been legal in Spain since 2021, and the law allows people to give prior permission to donate organs and tissues.
Hospital officials said the donor had clearly recorded her wish to donate before her death. This made it possible for doctors to carefully plan the complex operation and prepare the facial tissues in advance.
Dr Joan Pere Barret, head of Plastic Surgery and Burns at Vall d’Hebron, who led the surgical team, said face transplantation requires extensive preparation and lifelong medical care. The surgery involved transplanting skin, muscles, nerves, and parts of the facial bones. The patient will need long-term medication to prevent the body from rejecting the transplant.
Hospital officials said the surgery followed strict ethical, medical, and legal guidelines and thanked the donor and her family for making the procedure possible.
Doctors believe the success of the operation could help patients with serious facial injuries or deformities and highlight Europe’s growing contribution to advanced and life-changing medical treatments.
