The first man to receive a penis transplant in the United States will be an American soldier who had been wounded in Afghanistan, according to surgeons at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where the procedure will be done. This surgery is expected to be the first of such transplants for about 60 other servicemen with similar serious genital injuries during their deployments.
The Johns Hopkins teams expects that the transplant will give the soldier full functioning, including urination, feeling, and the ability to have sex. The surgery is expected to take place within a few weeks, after a suitable donor is found. The deceased donor must be a good match to the soldier in terms of tissue type, age, and skin color. The donor's family will need to give specific permission for the penis to be donated.
The loss of the penis is one of the most emotionally traumatic injuries that can happen to a man because it affects his sense of identity and his masculinity. It can be especially difficult for a man who has not had children.
"When you meet these guys and you realize what they've given for the country, it makes a lot of sense," Dr. Richard Redett, a plastic surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital who will take part in the surgery, told Reuters Health.
The soldier who will receive the transplant has not been publically identified. He had substantial groin injuries from a bomb explosion while deployed in Afghanistan.
This is the first such surgery in the United States, but there have been two earlier penis transplants. The first was performed in China in 2006 and was unsuccessful. The second was done in South Africa in 2014 and was a success.
The surgery will also involve replacement of the scrotum, part of the abdominal wall, other tissue in the groin, and part of the inner thigh, Redett told Reuters. However, it will not involve transplantation of the testes, which means that if the recipient fathers a child, it will be his, not the donor's.
Penis transplant surgery could eventually be performed on men who have birth defects or for transgender women transitioning into men.
