Comment by Mockingjay40 on 15/01/2024 at 16:52 UTC

6 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)

View submission: If you lose a limb and it's viable to be reattached, do you need to take antirejection drugs if it's your own limb ?

No, rejection is an activated response by the immune system to attack foreign objects. As the limb is yours, it won’t undergo a host rejection like a transplant patient could, as the cells contain the proper MHC domains[1] to avoid acute immune response. However, limb replantation does have a risk of other complications, such as wallerian degeneration[2]. Additionally, acute inflammation is common at the site of injury, which can interfere with blood flow properties, so thrombosis is a relatively pertinent issue, meaning patients often have to take anticoagulants until the body is able to readjust, but these are different from antirejection drugs which suppress your immune response.

1: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27156/

2: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/limb-replantation

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Comment by riggeredtay at 19/01/2024 at 12:30 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Thank you ! This is super cool !