Successful penis transplant on veteran: They’re working

Thanks to a team of doctors at John Hopkins University who successfully performed a penis transplant procedure on a young veteran bringing a smile on his face and hopes to many in the future. It is fourth such successful surgery ever reported

According to a letter to the editor published online on The New England Journal of Medicine they performed transplantation of the penis, scrotum, and lower abdominal wall.

Let’s try to find out what actual condition made to perform this crucial procedure? whether the injured military veteran regained his sexual health? and everything related to it.

Veteran had lost almost all penis in combat

The serviceman had perhaps sustained a combat injury who was then deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. His initial injury also included above-knee amputation of both legs, substantial tissue loss in the lower abdominal wall, and bilateral traumatic orchiectomy and loss of the scrotum.

After initial healing, the patient had a 1.5-cm long remnant of penile tissue with a urethra at the end of the amputated shaft. Scrotal tissue was absent, as were the testes.

Doctors performed transplantation of the penis, scrotum, and lower abdominal wall from a young, closely age-matched donor.

After 1 year his sexual health is now improved

After 1 year since the patient received the penile transplant, he has near-normal erections and the ability to achieve orgasm, as well as substantial improvements in pleasure scores on patient-reported outcome measures.

He has a normal sensation to the shaft and tip of the transplanted penis and can localize touch sensation. He can even urinate while standing, which isn’t always possible for people with genitourinary injuries.

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