The world's first ever penile transplant is dubbed successful because the patient now has a girlfriend and he resumes his sexual activities without problems.
The 21-year old man who underwent the operation has been able to resume a sexual relationship with his girlfriend just five weeks after the operation.
"He gets good quality erections, ejaculates and has frequent sex with his partner," says Professor Frank Graewe, who took part in the nine-hour surgery on the man from South Africa. The operation is considered the first of its kind worldwide.
The operation was conducted on December 2014 by a team of doctors from Stellenbosch University in Cape Town and others from Tygerberg Hospital. The man's privacy and confidentiality is respected as he does not want to disclose his name. He has now made a full recovery which surprised the surgeons. He resumed both his reproductive and urinary functions without problems.
Professor Graewe, who is the head of the division of plastic reconstructive surgery at Stellenbosch University told CNN News, "It's a massive breakthrough. We've proved that it can be done. We can give someone an organ that is just as good as the one that he had."
The penis of the patient had been removed due to complications from a traditional circumcision procedure when he participated in a ceremony as a teenager. Such traditional ways of circumcision are being scrutinized due to risk of complications including infection and necrosis. He received a donated organ from a man who was declared brain dead.
Dr. André van der Merwe, the head of the team of doctors, said that they used the same technique with a facial transplant. They made certain that all vessels and nerves were connected. Additionally, the patient underwent psychological evaluation as well. He had spent years experimenting on cadavers to see what nerves and vessels need to be connected to resume full functioning.
The surgeons were amazed on the man's pace of recovery because they expected another two years for him to be able to use his new organ.
Dr. Beth Engelbrecht, head of Western Cape Government Health, expressed her happiness on the success of their project, "We are very proud to be part of this ground-breaking scientific achievement. It is good to know that a young man's life has been significantly changed with this very complex surgical feat. From experience we know that penile dysfunction and disfigurement has a major adverse psychological effect on people."