Penile transplant surgery is a surgical procedure used to attach a functional penis to a man’s body. It involves the connection of blood vessels and nerves from the patient’s body to the penis in order to ensure that the patient will have not only function in the organ but also sensation in it. Some people confuse this surgery with procedures used to give a transsexual a functional penis. The two surgeries are not the same, however, and penile transplants are more likely to be used for men who have lost their penises as the result of injuries or disease.
When the first successful penile transplant surgery was performed in 2005, it was performed on a 44-year-old man. The man suffered the loss of most of his penis in an accident and was left with a small stump. Normal urination and sexual intercourse were impaired as a result. Surgeons in China were able to obtain a donated penis from a young man who had been pronounced brain dead. They were then able to attach it to the 44-year-old man’s body.
Surgery to transplant penises has not yet become common. The first successful operation took 15 hours to complete. Doctors used microsurgery techniques, which involve microscopes and tiny instruments, to ensure the proper connection of the patient’s blood vessels to the transplanted penis. These techniques are also used to connect nerves that are important in the proper functioning of the organ and the return of penile sensation. The procedure is performed under general anesthesia and involves many of the risks common with similar types of surgery, such as infection, blood clots, and nerve damage.
For the most part, penile transplant surgery isn’t much more complex than a surgical procedure for transplanting arms, legs, or hands. Some doctors assert that the questionable side of penile surgery is whether or not the patient will experience a 100-percent return to full function and sensation of the penis. Additionally, patients may have to take medication after these transplants to prevent the body from rejecting the transplanted organ.
Penile transplant surgery is controversial. Some people think it is unethical to take cadaver penises or those from brain-dead donors and attach them to the bodies of transplant patients. Others counter, however, that it is cruel to allow a man to suffer without a vital part of his body if there is a medically sound way of giving him a normal appearance and function once more.
