Docs Perform World’s First Successful Penis Transplant

Docs Perform World’s First Successful Penis Transplant

Cape Town now offers hope to a high number of South African men who lose their penises due to complications with traditional circumcisions. Surgeons successfully performed a nine-hour operation.

Experts were working with an unnamed 21-year-old patient who had to have his penis amputated three years ago. They believed that the surgery would take two years to regain all function. However it has taken just four months for this to occur which resulted in December’s operation being declared a success.

At Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital the surgery has been being planned for just about five years. It was led by Professor Andre van der Merwe who stated in an interview with SkyNEWS,
“We are very surprised by this rapid recovery. It’s a massive breakthrough. We’ve proved that it can be done and we can give someone an organ that is just as good as the one that he had.

“There is a greater need in South Africa for this type of procedure than elsewhere in the world, as many young men lost their penises every year due to complications from traditional circumcision.” The surgery has been attempted once before but this is the first example of a successful long-term result.

Experts estimate that across South Africa there are as many as 250 penis amputations which take place every year. “This is a very serious situation. For a young man of 18 or 19 years, the loss of his penis can be deeply traumatic,” stated Prof. van der Merwe while speaking to SkyNEWS.

“He doesn’t necessarily have the psychological capability to process this. There are even reports of suicide among these young men. The heroes in all of this for me are the donor and his family. They saved the lives of many people because they donated the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, skin, corneas, and then the penis.”

The procedure could eventually be extended to men who have lost their penises from penile cancer or as a last resort treatment for severe erectile dysfunction.