World's first penis transplant patient is able to have sex with girlfriend weeks after operation

March 20, 2015  23:48

The 21-year-old man who underwent the world's first successful penis transplant has been able to resume a sexual relationship with this girlfriend just five weeks after the transplant.

Professor Frank Graewe, who took part in the nine-hour surgery on the South African man, said: 'He gets good quality erections, ejaculates and has frequent sex with his partner.' 

He said doctors are now also appealing for donors to enable more men to have the operation.

The operation was carried out by surgeons from Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, using a donated penis.  

The man, who has not been named, lost all but a 1cm stump of his penis three years ago following a botched circumcision.

He received the donated organ harvested from a man who was declared brain dead.

Professor Graewe said the recipient had accepted the new organ as 'his own' – and added the skin tone of the donor penis is similar to that of the patient.

Professor André van der Merwe, who led the operation on December 11 last year, had spent years experimenting on cadavers to see which nerves, blood vessels and other elements had to be joined to guarantee full functioning.

After extensive research Professor van der Merwe and his surgical team decided to use techniques developed for the first facial transplant. 

A follow-up operation enabled the young man to urinate normally, without the aid of a catheter, and the doctors said his overall confidence had risen considerably since the procedure.

The man has made a full recovery - a result which the doctors did not expect to occur until about December 2016. 

Professor van der Merwe said they were surprised by the patient's rapid recovery.

He said: 'Our goal was that he would be fully functional at two years and we are very surprised by his rapid recovery.'

The recipient had sought medical help after being left with a non-functioning stump following a bungled procedure by an inept traditional 'surgeon'.

Professor Graewe said: '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.'

'It was a privilege to be part of this first successful penis transplant in the world.' 

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter


 
  • Video
 
 
  • Event calendar
 
 
  • Archive