South African Surgeons Perform World’s First
Penis Transplant

_{by Shola Akinyele
Big Story HealthXtra
March 13, 2015 | 484 views}

A team of South African surgeons has performed the
world’s first successful penis transplant in a
marathon nine-hour operation, Stellenbosch
University, announced on Friday.
The operation, led by Prof André van der Merwe,
head of the university’s Division of Urology, was
performed in December 2014 at Tygerberg Hospital
in Bellville, Cape Town, the university said.
The university said it was the second time that the
procedure had been attempted, but the first time that
a successful long-term result was achieved.
The university said the unidentified 24-year-old
patient had his penis amputated three years ago as a
result of a botched circumcision.
Doctors say there are as many as 250 such
amputations annually in South Africa. “This is a very
serious situation. For a young man of 18 or 19 years
the loss of his penis can be deeply traumatic. He
doesn’t necessarily have the psychological capability
to process this. There are even reports of suicide
among these young men,” said Van der Merwe.
The lead surgeon explained that the transplanted
penis “was harvested from a donor whose family
consented.” The university said the patient has
regained full function in the transplanted organ,
including urinary and reproductive functions.
“Our goal was that he would be fully functional at two
years and we are very surprised by his rapid
recovery,” Van der Merwe said. He said the patient is
“very happy and is not having any major side effects.”
“It’s a massive breakthrough. We’ve proved that it can
be done — we can give someone an organ that is just
as good as the one that he had,” said Professor Frank
Graewe, who assisted in the process.
Van der Merwe said some of the microscopic surgery
techniques — such as connected small blood vessels
and nerves — used were developed for the first facial
transplant.
This procedure could eventually also be employed
for men who have lost their joysticks from penile
cancer or as a last-resort treatment for severe
erectile dysfunction due to medication side effects,
the university said.
It added that nine more patients are scheduled to
receive penile transplants.
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