Unique operation
In the USA, for the first time in the world, a complex penis and scrotum transplant was performed
Natalia Pelezneva, Naked Science
Doctors from Johns Hopkins Hospital (Maryland) managed to carry out a successful complex transplantation of the penis and scrotum. The operation lasted 14 hours, 11 surgeons participated in it. A month has passed since the transplant, the patient feels well: doctors expect that soon many organ functions will be fully restored. The successful completion of the transplant was reported on the clinic's website (Johns Hopkins Performs First Total Penis and Scrotum Transplant in the World).
The patient was a young military man who lost his genitals due to the explosion of an artisanal device during one of the conflicts in Afghanistan. Earlier male genital transplantation operations included only the penis, doctors have never transplanted the penis together with neighboring tissues. This time, the penis, scrotum (without testicles) and part of the abdominal wall became the material for transplantation. At the last stage of the operation, a single fragment of tissue with a total weight of up to 2.2 kilograms was transplanted to the patient. The donor was a man who died shortly before the operation.
Scheme of transplantation facilities
The procedure was performed by the method of vascularized composite allotransplantation (vascularized composite allotransplantation). With the help of high-tech equipment, doctors transferred not only skin, muscles and tendons, but also nerves and blood vessels into the patient's body. Now he is taking hormonal medications that will gradually restore the functions of the genitals. Surgeons expect this to happen in a few months when the nerves are restored: first, normal urination should return, then an erection. It is possible that the patient will need a biocompatible implant for a full erection, but surgeons are trying to avoid this in order to reduce the likelihood of rejection.
Doctors hope that the success of the transplant will help in finding funds for such operations: one of the surgeons, Andrew Lee (W.P. Andrew Lee), estimated its cost at 300-400 thousand dollars. The technology of the procedure was developed for about five years.
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