US surgeons successfully perform the world’s first penis and scrotum transplant
A team of 11 doctors carried out the operation on a veteran who was injured in Afghanistan.
A team of surgeons in the US has performed the world’s first full penis and scrotum transplant.
Doctors at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, carried out the operation on a veteran who was injured in Afghanistan.
They transplanted an entire penis, scrotum and partial abdominal wall from a deceased donor. The donor’s testicles were not used in the operation.
Nine plastic surgeons and two urological surgeons were involved in the 14-hour operation on March 26.
Dr WP Andrew Lee, professor and director of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said: “We are hopeful that this transplant will help restore near-normal urinary and sexual functions for this young man.”
The soldier, who wishes to remain anonymous, said in a statement: “It’s a real mind-boggling injury to suffer, it is not an easy one to accept.
“When I first woke up, I felt finally more normal … (with) a level of confidence as well. Confidence … like finally I’m OK now.”
In medical terms, a surgery where a body part or tissue is transferred from one individual to another is called a vascularised composite allotransplantation.
The process involves transplanting skin, bone, muscles, tendons and blood vessels.
The world’s first successful penis transplant was performed in 2014 by doctors in South Africa.