Over a year ago, a young army veteran underwent a 14-hour surgery to transplant a penis, scrotum and lower abdominal wall. He was attacked with an IED (improvised explosive device) that destroyed his genitals and both the legs when he was trying to save a fellow soldier.
Representative Image: iStock
Doctors have now reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that he now has near-normal erections as well as the ability to achieve orgasms, along with normal sensations to the shaft and the tip of his transplanted penis. They have also revealed that the patient was able to tackle major challenges and is able to achieve a strong stream of urine with no straining and pee standing upright.?
The man (who wishes to be anonymous) was the first to undergo such a complex surgery. He is also the third in the world to have a successful penis transplant. The transplant weighed around two kilograms and was connected to tiny blood vessels (only a millimetre wide) under a powerful microscope.?
The doctors didn't, however, transplant the donor's testicles after consultation with bioethicists as they feel that if the recipient could have fathered a child, it could possess the donor's DNA.
Getting a donor was the most challenging part as it had to be from a close-age among other complications. The surgeons had to develop a completely revamped revascularisation technique for proper blood supply.?
New England Journal of Medicine
The patient has expressed immense joy and satisfaction with the result of the surgery and has reported that 'He feels whole again'. He is currently studying full-time and take help of leg prostheses to commute.
The success of this transplant gives hope to many veterans who are in need of such reconstructive surgery.??