South African doctors have performed the world’s first successful penis transplant. The surgery was carried on a 21-year-old man whose penis was amputated in a botched circumcision ritual, said a hospital said on Friday.
Before carrying out the operation, the doctors in Cape Town said there was an extensive discussion about whether it was ethical to go ahead with it or not as it was not a life-saving surgery.
This is the first time such an operation has been carried out with successful results. While penis transplants have been carried out before, including one in China, they were unsuccessful due to rejection.
The recipient was 18 when he was circumcised as part of most African tradition. And according to reports, he was already sexually active at the time it was done. After the circumcision, he was left with just 1cm of his male organ.
The transplant took place in December 2014 and required nine hours to complete. It was part of a pilot study by Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town and the University of Stellenbosch to help the many young men who either die or lose their penises in botched circumcisions 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,” said Andre van der Merwe, head of the university’s urology unit and who led the operation said in a statement.
Image: Stellenbosch University.