A New England man continues to recuperate after becoming the nation'second recipient of a donated face a week ago.

A team of 35 surgeons in Boston performed the second face transplant in the nation April 9.

The procedure took 17 hours and two operating rooms at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. In one room, doctors removed the facial tissue of the donor, and in the next, they attached it to the recipient, who wishes to remain anonymous, according to the Boston Globe.

The recipient passed the first critical test--making it through the first 24 hours without serious clotting that can damage nerve and circulatory connections, the Globe reported.

The transplant recipient did not have life-threatening injuries, but his face was considerably disfigured. He had lost the bone structure of his mid-face, including his nose, hard palate and much of his soft tissue, including his upper lip, according to CNN.

The doctors cautioned that there is still a chance the man's body will reject the new skin.