119
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Does pediatric hand transplantation undermine a child’s right to an open future?

, &
Pages 185-189 | Received 07 Mar 2020, Accepted 24 Nov 2020, Published online: 14 Dec 2020
 

Abstract

To date, pediatric hand transplantations have only been performed twice. The ethical issue most often discussed in the literature on this surgery concerns the risks of immunosuppression. While these risks are significant, they can be at least partially mitigated by selecting for patients who are already immunocompromised. Nevertheless, as we will argue, pediatric hand transplantation raises ethical issues that go beyond the risks of immunosuppression. In this paper, we focus on three additional ethical issues: the fact that pediatric hand transplantation aims to improve, rather than save life; the fact that it is an experimental surgery; and the fact that it will be performed on non-autonomous patients whose ‘right to an open future’ may potentially be undermined by the surgery. Taken together, we think that these considerations suggest that transplantation should be postponed until a child is mature enough to make their own decision about it.

Disclosure statement

The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose as described by the Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.