Spanish hospital preforms 1st full-face transplant

A 30 year old Spanish farmer, who accidentally shot himself in the face in 2005, was the first ever to receive a full facial transplant at Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron Hospital.

Although some consider it to be more of a near-total face transplant, a spokesman at the UK Facial Transplantation Research Team says that the surgery was more complex than previous surgeries.

About two years ago, a near-total face transplant was performed on a woman in Cleveland Ohio. The 30 year old Spanish patient, who remains anonymous, received a new face which included a new jaw, nose, cheekbones, muscles, teeth and eyelids. There is still a possibility that his body could reject the new face in weeks, months or years to come. However, doctors are expecting that within a week he will be able to breathe and eat on his own. Before his full facial transplant surgery, the patient had undergone nine other surgeries but was unable to eat and breathe on his own.

The patient is recovering well and doctors believe that this surgery was worth the risk involved. The man’s face looks normal and the only sign of the surgery is one visible scar that runs across his neck.