{"id":99517,"date":"2015-03-15T13:14:36","date_gmt":"2015-03-15T13:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=99517"},"modified":"2015-03-15T13:14:36","modified_gmt":"2015-03-15T13:14:36","slug":"south-africans-perform-first-successful-penis-transplant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=99517","title":{"rendered":"South Africans perform first ‘successful’ penis transplant"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The world’s first successful penis transplant has been reported by a surgical team in South Africa.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old recipient, whose identify is being protected, lost his penis in a botched circumcision.<\/p>\n

Doctors in Cape Town said the operation was a success and the patient was happy and healthy.<\/p>\n

The team said there was extensive discussion about whether the operation, which is not life-saving in the same way as a heart transplant, was ethical.<\/p>\n

There have been attempts before, including one in China. Accounts suggested the operation went fine, but the penis was later rejected.<\/p>\n

Penis replacement<\/strong><\/p>\n

The man was 18 and already sexually active when he had the circumcision.<\/p>\n

The procedure is part of the transition from boyhood to adulthood in parts of South Africa.<\/p>\n

\"Man
These boys are undergoing a circumcision ceremony in South Africa<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The boy was left with just 1cm of his original penis.<\/p>\n

Doctors say South Africa has some of the greatest need for penis transplants anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

Dozens, although some say hundreds, of boys are maimed or die each year during traditional initiation ceremonies.<\/p>\n

Long<\/strong><\/p>\n

Surgeons at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital performed a nine-hour operation to attach a donated penis.<\/p>\n

One of the surgeons, Andre Van der Merwe, who normally performs kidney transplants, told the BBC News website: “This is definitely much more difficult, the blood vessels are 1.5 mm wide. In the kidney it can be 1 cm.”<\/p>\n

The team used some of the techniques that had been developed to perform the first face transplants in order to connect the tiny blood vessels and nerves.<\/p>\n

The operation took place on 11 December last year. Three months later doctors say the recovery has been rapid.<\/p>\n

Full sensation has not returned and doctors suggest this could take two years.<\/p>\n

However, the man is able to pass urine, have an erection, orgasm and ejaculate.<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/strong><\/p>\n

The procedure required a lot of preparation.<\/p>\n

The team needed to be sure the patient was aware of the risks of a life-time of immunosuppressant drugs.<\/p>\n

Also some patients cannot cope with a transplant if they fail to recognise it as part of their body.<\/p>\n

“Psychologically, we knew it would have a massive effect on the ego,” said Dr Van der Merwe.<\/p>\n

It took “a hell of a lot of time” to get ethical approval, he added.<\/p>\n

One of the concerns is a heart transplant balances the risk of the operation against a certain death, but a penis transplant would not extend life span.<\/p>\n

Dr Van der Merwe told the BBC: “You may say it doesn’t save their life, but many of these young men when they have penile amputations are ostracised, stigmatised and take their own life.<\/p>\n

“If you don’t have a penis you are essentially dead, if you give a penis back you can bring them back to life.”<\/p>\n

Further attempts on other patients are expected to take place in three months time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: BBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world’s first successful penis transplant has been reported by a surgical team in South Africa. The 21-year-old recipient, whose identify is being protected, lost his penis in a botched circumcision. Doctors in Cape Town said the operation was a success and the patient was happy and healthy. The team said there was extensive discussion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":99518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15,7],"class_list":["post-99517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-chinese","tag-togbe-afede-xiv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}