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Medicine

World's 1st Penis Transplant Done In South Africa 221

Posted by samzenpus from the new-equipment dept.
PolygamousRanchKid writes The world's first successful penis transplant has been performed by surgeons in South Africa, Bloomberg News reported Friday. The 21-year-old recipient has made a full recovery and regained all functions in the transplanted organ. The nine-hour operation was done Dec. 11 by surgeons from Stellenbosch University and Cape Town's Tygerberg Hospital, the university said Friday in a statement. The unidentified patient had his penis amputated three years ago in a life-saving procedure after he developed complications from a traditional circumcision. "Our goal was that he would be fully functional at two years and we are very surprised by his rapid recovery," said Dr. Andre van der Merwe, head of the university's urology division, who led the surgical team.
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World's 1st Penis Transplant Done In South Africa More

World's 1st Penis Transplant Done In South Africa

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  • It's a good thing the other guy had a spare to share

    • It's a good thing the other guy had a spare to share

      Actually, I was wondering if they had a one-per-patient policy. Having a "Kerberos" or a "Ghidra" would be quite amusing . . . a great Halloween gag! But it might get you on the sex-offenders list.

      I think men would sign up on the donor list. Think about it . . . you can keep on fucking, even after you have died!

      Now I am waiting for the post, "Why is this News for Nerds" . . .

      • you can keep on fucking, even after you have died!

        You do realize that this only works if 'you' are a dick.

        Just sayin'.

    • Nah, the donor was a dead relative. Not like he was going to be using it any more ...

  • "very surprised by his rapid recovery" (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Where there's a will...

    .

  • Not the first (Score:5, Informative)

    by KiloByte ( 825081 ) on Saturday March 14, 2015 @08:25AM (#49255787)

    According to the very article, there was a medically successful transplant in 2006 that was later removed only because of the patient's severe psychological reaction.

  • Serious question:

    Besides the "ick" factor why aren't there trans people walking around with donated penises? Even doing organ swaps where a male-to-female trades with a compatible female-to-male? I realize tissue rejection can be a bitch but I can't imagine the artificial organs they make from the patient's own cells are particularly useful.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by OzPeter ( 195038 )

      Serious question:

      Besides the "ick" factor why aren't there trans people walking around with donated penises?

      Let me try to answer with a car analogy.

      This is like asking why there aren't Toyota Camry's driving around using transmissions from a Ford Mustang. In order to do a transplant you need to have components that are fundamentally compatible in the first place.

      On the other hand, my understanding is that surgeons can craft (to some extent) a penis from the tissue in a FtM patients vagina.

      • Serious question:

        Besides the "ick" factor why aren't there trans people walking around with donated penises?

        Let me try to answer with a car analogy.

        Your analogy fails when it comes to chick cars tho'

    • from the add-a-dick-to-me and lop-it-off-a-me depts

      Serious question: Besides the "ick" factor why aren't there trans people walking around with donated penises? Even doing organ swaps where a male-to-female trades with a compatible female-to-male? I realize tissue rejection can be a bitch but I can't imagine the artificial organs they make from the patient's own cells are particularly useful.

      First, in this case, the penis was taken from a dead relative. The patient still needs to take anti-rejection drugs - otherwise ... "it was there when I went to bed ..." (okay, not quite, but you get my point).

      In the case of an m2f transsexual, you can see here how it's done [garyalterp...urgeon.com]. As you can see, they don't just "chop it off", which is why orgasmic function (which starts and ends in the brain) is successful in 80% or more of all cases post-op.

      One techniqu [genitalsur...lgrade.com]

      • I'm going to pass on clicking on your links. This sounds like something I don't want to scar my mind with, as it's something you can't "unsee", much like the goatse.cx picture. The before and after pics are probably OK, but I really, really, really don't want to see the during-surgery pics.

        • Admittedly, it's kind of gross, but the poster was asking why you can't just "swap parts", and didn't think the end result would be all that great.

          Guys tend to get a bit squeamish about it, even those who get a "Prince Albert". However, think of the advantages - multiple orgasms and no worry about needing a half-viagra when you get older just to keep you from peeing on your shoes. So if you need to get it done anyway ... :-)

          There are, admittedly, downsides. For one, your opinion in meetings all of a sudd

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by lgw ( 121541 )

            However, think of the advantages - multiple orgasms and no worry about needing a half-viagra when you get older just to keep you from peeing on your shoes. So if you need to get it done anyway ... :-)

            If I live a few decades more, there will be several women alive my age for every man. How often you get it up can be fixed with a pill; how often you get it, not so much. If you're in your 20s, maybe it looks different, as female mortality is converging on male as gender roles in the workplace fade.

            • If I live a few decades more, there will be several women alive my age for every man.

              Big deal, they're all going to be elderly, white-haired biddies and certainly not anything you're going to be excited about jumping in bed with.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by lgw ( 121541 )

                Some will be, no doubt, but with a high enough F/M ratio you can be picky. The last time I visited my father, we happened to walk through the gym for his retirement community, and I was a bit surprised - there are definitely still women in good shape far older than I would have guessed.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by nbauman ( 624611 )

        In the case of an m2f transsexual, you can see here how it's done [garyalterp...urgeon.com]. As you can see, they don't just "chop it off", which is why orgasmic function (which starts and ends in the brain) is successful in 80% or more of all cases post-op.

        One technique using penile inversion [genitalsur...lgrade.com], and another technique using a portion of the colon [genitalsur...lgrade.com].

        I am unable to come up with a joke for a surgeon named "Gary Alter" who performs gender reassignment surgery.

  • The ancient prophecies (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Saturday March 14, 2015 @08:40AM (#49255853)
    have come true!

    When I was a teenager, if we we didn't like some chick, we'd tell our friends "I wouldn't screw he with your dick!"

    Now he will always do that

    I'll bet masturbation is awkward to think about as well.

  • It's a tabu issue right? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by no-body ( 127863 ) on Saturday March 14, 2015 @08:46AM (#49255887)

    I mean the underlying cause for this operation, a common procedure done on man without consent in a very young age because?
    The last thing I heard about this was a campaign on boys age over 10 getting talked into getting circumcised was to prevent AIDS...
    The only mammal on this planet tinkering with their dicks in that manner are humans - supposedly having the largest brain.
    Must be progress then....

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by burtosis ( 1124179 )
      The national academy of pediatrics in the USA does NOT recommend circumcision. The medical drawbacks outweigh any benefits. The bonus of this honesty is that its a cosmetic/religious procedure and as such usually isn't covered by insurance. I have no idea why it became mainstream, it's not like removing a foreskin makes them a lawyer or banker. Perhaps its left over from the time were it was done purposefully to reduce the pleasure of sex/masturbation to try and keep people from sin.

      • Yup. With an interesting source.

        http://youtu.be/gCSWbTv3hng [youtu.be]

      • I have no idea why it became mainstream

        That's easy. Dr. John Kellogg (relative of the guy who invented cereal) really hated masturbation, and pushed the procedure as a way to discourage adolescent boys from masturbating. This of course became popular because Victorian-era America hated sexuality.

        • Of course, Moses may have been a precident - but there is the NIH syndrome.

          • No, that's NIH. Jews circumcised (and still do) because of all that Biblical crap. Christians don't believe it's a religious necessity, since they think they're somehow exempt from all the Leviticus silliness (except for tithing), so they stopped doing it ages ago, until Dr. Kellogg brought it back. That's why Christians in Europe don't circumcise (and haven't, ever), while most Americans do.

    • It's a tribal prove-you-are-a-man thing in South Africa. A lot has been done to make sure the process is clean and safe, but some of the witch doctors refuse to accept the oversight and do the circumcision with a rusty razor blade in non-sterile conditions.

      It's stupid and dangerous, and although the offending witch doctors are getting jail time, not enough is being done to regulate the process to the point that the need for these transplants is eliminated at source.

      • There's a similar thing with ultra-orthodox Jews. It's only a tiny minority - most Jews are perfectly happy with sterile surgical scalpels. The ultra-orthodox though are ridiculously averse to change of any form (thus the name), and many insist on using the 'oral suction' technique in which the rabbi, having removed the foreskin with a traditional unsterilised blade, proceeds to suck upon the damaged penis in order to ensure a strong blood flow to flush the wound and promote healing. It's very prone to infe

  • Wondering whatever happened to ... (Score:3)

    by 140Mandak262Jamuna ( 970587 ) on Saturday March 14, 2015 @08:47AM (#49255891) Journal
    Remember the guy? Whatshisname? John Wayne Bobbit right? Source of the eponymous term bobbitized. What happened to him?

  • Well... (Score:3)

    by MetricT ( 128876 ) on Saturday March 14, 2015 @08:56AM (#49255931)

    I guess he won't need his Corvette anymore...

  • Er, on, I guess.

    How long before cross-species transplants start happening? Horse cocks for everyone.

  • Do you get to pick the donor? (Score:3)

    by RogueWarrior65 ( 678876 ) on Saturday March 14, 2015 @09:14AM (#49255985)

    I mean, who wouldn't want to be able to choose one? That opens up all kinds of possibilities.

  • Will this be offered as an option for Female-to-Male transsexuals? Instead of a constructing a penis, transplant a 'real' one.

    • Maybe, but you'd need a compatible donor (like a relative), and you still have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of your life. With current arficially-constructed penises (made using the patient's own tissue), you don't have the rejection problem.

  • Add a Cock to Me (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I believe the operation is called an "adacoctomy".

  • Did you hear... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Guy From V ( 1453391 ) on Saturday March 14, 2015 @10:52AM (#49256395) Homepage

    ...about the guy with five penises?

    His underwear fit like a glove.

  • what happened to the donor?

  • I still remember the first heart transplant in 1967, also done in South-Africa.

    My heart (and cock) goes out to them.

  • OK, so print me a huge black one. I'll be much more popular with the ladies.

  • Are we now to revisit the apartheid era with the emphasis on PART as the white supremacists in South Africa (you KNOW they're still there) start harvesting organs from hapless African men in order to retain the sexual fidelity of their Jungle Fevered wives without beating them (the way you just KNOW they beat their children and even dogs)?

  • He lost his penis once because of circumcision.

    And now he's gonna do it again with his new penis.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/... [bloomberg.com]

    The transplanted penis wasn't circumcised and it will be at least several months before the patient can return for the medical procedure

  • Clarkson has not announced new job yet.

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