South African doctors have confirmed that they performed the world’s first successful penis transplant, three months after conducting the ground-breaking operation.
The 21-year-old patient had his penis amputated three years ago after a botched circumcision at a traditional initiation ceremony.
In a nine-hour operation at the Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town on December 11 last year, he received his new penis from a deceased donor.
“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, head of plastic reconstructive surgery at Stellenbosch University.
“It was a privilege to be part of this first successful penis transplant in the world.”
Doctors said the man, whose identity has not been disclosed, has made a full recovery since the operation and had regained all his urinary and reproductive functions.
In 2006, a Chinese man had a penis transplant but his doctors removed the organ after two weeks due to “a severe psychological problem of the recipient and his wife.”
