Surgeons at Johns Hopkins have performed the first penis and scrotum transplant in the world on a U.S. veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan.
The procedure involved nine plastic surgeons and two urological surgeons. It was used for a soldier who asked to remain anonymous. The surgery lasted 14 hours and was conducted March 26. The patient is expected to be released from the hospital this week.
“It’s a real mind-boggling injury to suffer, it is not an easy one to accept,” the recipient of the transplant said. “When I first woke up, I felt finally more normal… [with] a level of confidence as well. Confidence … like finally I’m OK now.”
Roughly 1,300 men have injuries to the genitalia from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense.
Two other penis transplants have been performed in the world: One at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2016 and another in South Africa in 2014. In those cases, however, only the penis was transplanted.
At Hopkins, surgeons transplanted the partial abdominal wall, penis and scrotum, minus the testicles, from a donor who had died. Keeping the testicles would have enabled the transplant recipient to father children who were genetically tied to the organ donor, a practice doctors have determined is unethical.
“We are hopeful that this transplant will help restore near-normal urinary and sexual functions for this young man,” said Dr. W.P. Andre Lee, professor and director of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a statement.
The patient must take immunosuppressants so his body doesn’t reject the new tissue. Doctors chose to do a transplant for the injury because using a prosthesis and tissue to reconstruct the penis would have carried a higher risk of infection. They also noted that for members of the military who have been wounded in battle, it might be difficult to use tissue from other parts of the body because they likely have sustained other injuries.
The vet who received the transplant had lost both of his legs above the knee. He will not be able to father children and will take testosterone and Cialis.
