transplants

Imagine going for a decade without any hands and then suddenly having a new set to work with. That's what happened to Jeff Kepner, the first person to receive a double hand transplant in the U.S.

Last March, a French surgical team proved that face transplants weren't just for Nic Cage and John Travolta. Then, in December, an American team successfully performed the first face transplant on this side of the Atlantic. And yesterday, we got our first look at the results.

Surgery dates back to Neolithic times, but some major advances have occurred in the last 20 years that have allowed for previously unthinkable procedures.

While many new techniques have been cool without being clinically relevant, PopSci spoke with with Jeffrey Matthews, the chairman of surgery at the University of Chicago Hospital, to look at some of the advances that have actually helped save lives. And as a bonus, we'll look back at some aspects of surgery that haven’t changed over the decades.