A South African surgical squad has just announced the world ’s first successful penial transplant . On December 11 , 2014 , a new man received a giver ’s member during a nine - hour procedure performed at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town . Now , three month after , the transplant organ is to the full run – for sex and for micturition – though full adept may take a bit longer . " Our goal was that he would be fully working at two eld and we are very surprised by his speedy recovery , " team leaderAndre van der Merwe of Stellenbosch Universitysays in astatement .
The sexually fighting 21 - year - old recipient role will now be capable to have children if he chooses to . Three year ago , he suffer all but one cm of his penis when complication arise during a ritual circumcision – which members of the Xhosa group often undergo . " There is a bully want in South Africa for this eccentric of procedure than elsewhere in the world,“Van der Merwe add , " as many young military personnel lose their member every year due to complications from traditional circumcision . " According to late idea , as many as 250 penial amputations go on across the country every year .
research worker initially contend to get a donated penis , but they finally receive one after fashioning a replenishment out of skin to be buried with the conferrer . " The kinfolk is much happy to send the body to the grave accent with something resembling a penis,“Van der Merwe tells Bloomberg .
This surgery was part of a pilot study to develop a penial transplant procedure that could practicably be do in distinctive South African infirmary theater preferences . The squad used techniques developed for the first facial transplanting , including microscopic surgery to relate small blood vessels and nerve . While blood vessel in the kidney can be a centimeter wide , for example , the ones they ’re working with here are about 1.5 millimeters wide , BBC reports .
" It ’s a massive breakthrough,“Frank Graewe of Stellenbosch Universitysays . " We ’ve demonstrate that it can be done – we can give someone an reed organ that is just as dear as the one that he had . " Nine more patients will be receiving penile transplant as part of this survey .
This is at least the second time a surgery like this was attempt , and the first fourth dimension it was successful . In 2006 , a affected role in China asked doctors to remove his Modern organ just 10 day after operation . While the transplantation was physically successful , Washington Post explains , the psychological trauma may have been too much .
