Face transplant A face transplant is a skin graft that involves replacing part or all of a patient 's face with a donor face . Purpose People with faces disfigured by burns , trauma , disease or birth defects might benefit from the procedure . The alternative to a face transplant is to move the patient 's own skin from their back , buttocks or thighs to their face in a series of as many as 50 operations to regain even limited function and a face that is often likened to a mask or a living quilt . Dr. L. Scott Levin , chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Duke University Medical Center , has described the procedure as `` the single most important area of reconstructive research . `` History Self as donor ( face replant ) The world 's first full-face replant operation was on nine year-old Sandeep Kaur , whose face was ripped off when her hair was caught in a thresher . The grass-cutting machine completely amputated her face and scalp . The machine caught one of Sandeep 's braids and then pulled her head in . Sandeep 's mother witnessed the accident . Sandeep arrived at the hospital unconscious with her face in two pieces in a plastic bag . An article in The Guardian recounts : `` In 1994 , a nine-year-old child in northern India lost her face and scalp in a threshing machine accident . Her parents raced to the hospital with her face in a plastic bag and a surgeon managed to reconnect the arteries and replant the skin. '' The operation was successful , although the child was left with some muscle damage as well as scarring around the perimeter where the facial skin was sutured back on . Sandeep 's doctor was Abraham Thomas , one of India 's top microsurgeons . In 2004 Sandeep was training to be a nurse . ( Photos ) In 1997 , a similar operation was performed in the Australian state of Victoria , when a woman 's face and scalp , torn off in a similar accident , was packed in ice and successfully reattached . The first surgeon to ever successfully perform a full face transplant is Dr. Peter Butler . Mouth and nose from another See Isabelle Dinoire for details . The world 's first partial face transplant on a living human was carried out on November 27 , 2005 by a team of surgeons led by Professor Jean-Michel Dubernard ( the surgeon who performed the first successful hand transplant in 1998 ) and Professor Bernard Devauchelle in Amiens , France . Isabelle Dinoire underwent surgery to replace her original face that had been ravaged by her dog . A triangle of face tissue from a brain-dead human 's nose and mouth was grafted onto the patient . `` Scientists elsewhere have performed scalp and ear transplants . However , the claim is the first for a mouth and nose transplant . Experts say the mouth and nose are the most difficult parts of the face to transplant . `` Full face from another To date , no full face transplants have taken place however several medical institutions are competing for the opportunity to carry out such pioneering surgery . Scientists at the Utrecht University and the University of Louisville are seeking approval for an experimental face transplant operation to be performed in the Netherlands . In 2004 the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio , USA , became the first institution to approve this surgery and test it on cadavers . A group led by Dr. Maria Siemionow's , located at the Cleveland Clinic , is searching for its first patient . In October 2006 , surgeon Peter Butler at London 's Royal Free Hospital in the UK was given permission by the NHS ethics board to carry out a full face transplant . His team will select four adult patients ( children cannot be selected due to concerns over consent ) , with operations being carried out at six month intervals . Surgery and post-operation treatment The procedure consists of a series of operations requiring rotating teams of specialists . With issues of tissue type , age , sex , and skin color taken into consideration , the patient 's face is removed and replaced ( including the underlying fat , nerves and blood vessels , but no musculature ) . The surgery may last anywhere from 8 to 15 hours , followed by a 10–14 day hospital stay . After the procedure a lifelong regimen of immunosuppressive drugs is necessary to suppress the patient 's own immune systems and prevent rejection . Long-term immunosuppression increases the risk of developing life-threatening infections , kidney damage , and cancer . The surgery may result in complications such as infections that would turn the new face black and require a second transplant or reconstruction with skin grafts . Psychological effects of the procedure may include remorse , disappointment , or grief or guilt toward the donor . The transplant does not give the patient 's face the appearance of the deceased donor 's face because the underlying musculature and bones are different . Facial movements are due to the brain so the personality as expressed by the face remains that of the patient . Only the skin of the face is transferred from the donor , not the three dimensional shape nor the personality it expresses . Popular culture 1960 : The procedure was very grotesquely , yet somewhat accurately , highlighted in Georges Franju 's 1960 cult horror masterpiece called Les Yeux sans visage which translates to `` Eyes Without a Face '' . 1964 : Kobo Abe , Japanese author and playwright , wrote The Face of Another ( 1964 ) about a plastics scientist who loses his face in an accident and proceeds to construct a new face for himself . With a new face , the protagonist sees the world in a new way and even goes so far as to have a clandestine `` affair '' with his estranged wife . This novel was made into a movie by Hiroshi Teshigahara in 1966 . 1990 : In the 1990 movie Darkman , the central character Peyton Westlake grafts himself a synthetic face after his skin was burned in a lab accident . He uses this new material to disguise himself and hunt down the criminals responsible for his mutilation . 1997 : The plot of the 1997 movie Face/Off was based on a face transplant operation that involved changing the underlying structure and actual face shape . In the film , the transplant is shown to be reversable , with the patient being able to replace his original face if desired . 2003 : The villain in the movie Once Upon A Time In Mexico underwent a face transplant . 2005 : Facial transplant surgery was featured in a 2005 episode of Nip/Tuck . The patient 's body rejected the face , and it had to be removed . References University of Louisville Plastic Surgery Research UK Face Transplant Information Website Face transplants inch toward reality Face transplants 'on the horizon ' Doctors say they 're ready to perform face transplant New York Times BBC News - Woman has first face transplant External links Wikinews has news related to : First face transplant performed on French woman BBC News - Q & A : First face transplant Saving Faces : The Facial Surgery Research Foundation CTV News - Face transplant woman goes public for first time Xinhua News - China 's First Face Transplant Categories : Surgery | Transplantation medicine In other languages : Deutsch | Español | Français | Bahasa Indonesia | Suomi First face transplant performed on French woman 