Surgeons perform first double leg transplant

Spanish surgeons have performed the world's first double-leg transplant on a man whose legs were amputated above the knee after an accident, officials said.

Surgeons operated through the night on the man, who had faced life in a wheelchair because prosthetic limbs were unsuitable.

"It is the first time in the world that such a transplant has been carried out," the health authority for the eastern region of Valencia said in a statement.

The surgery was carried out in the La Fe hospital in the city of Valencia.

Neither donors nor the patient were identified but the health authority promised further details later this week.

Spain's health ministry announced in November that it had authorised a double leg transplant on an unidentified man who had both legs amputated above the knee after an accident.

The doctor in charge of the operation, Pedro Cavadas, is known in Spain for having carried out several transplants.

Full story at ABC