Veteran receives penis and scrotum transplant in surgery doctors say is a medical first

[mahatmakanejeeves]

To Your Health

Veteran receives penis and scrotum transplant in surgery doctors say is a medical first

By Eli Rosenberg April 23 at 10:04 PM

An Afghanistan war veteran who had his genitals blown off by a roadside bomb is the recipient of a donated penis and scrotum that doctors hope will restore his ability to function normally. ... Doctors said the transplant, made in a 14-hour surgery, is a medical first.

The veteran, who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, received the tissue transplant from a team of 11 doctors — nine plastic surgeons and two urological surgeons — at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in March. The procedure was the result of years of research, studies and cadaver work, giving doctors hope that if it proves successful, it could be used for injured veterans and other men with severe injuries to their genital regions.

“While extremity amputations are visible and resultant disability obvious, some war injuries are hidden and their impact not widely appreciated by others,” W.P. Andrew Lee, chairman of the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told reporters, speaking of the “devastating impact” that injuries had on men’s identity, self-esteem and intimate relationships.

Doctors said they hoped that the patient, who is expected to be released from the hospital this week, would regain “near-normal” urinary and sexual functions as he recovers and his nerves heal over the coming months. ... “It’s a real mind-boggling injury to suffer; it is not an easy one to accept,” the patient said in a release. “When I first woke up, I felt finally more normal.”
....

Eli Rosenberg is a reporter on The Washington Post's General Assignment team. He has worked at the New York Times and the New York Daily News. Follow @emrosenberg

[democrank]

1. This is remarkable

I hope with all my heart that this veteran's surgery is successful. What a devastating injury, but now this veteran has hope.

[Trust Buster]

2. So, you are telling me that there is hope for Paul Ryan after all ?......LOL

[ashtonelijah]

4. This was a genital transplant, not a spine transplant.

[NickB79]

3. So, if this man has a child, the child will not biologically be his, right?

When they say "donated scrotum", I'm assuming it has a donated set of testicles inside of it, yes?

That is amazing to me.

[sdfernando]

5. Really amazing operation

but not sure about children. Since cells die and sperm are constantly being generated I would think overtime the mans own DNA would change the nature of the original cell blueprints. So I think children would be at least partially his own....who knows I could be way off.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. The testicles were not included

From the article: "For the transplant, the donor’s testes were first removed because of what the doctors said were complicated ethical issues, in particular the potential ability to father children with another man’s genetic material."

I couldn't tell if this means he has no testicle now.

[pansypoo53219]

7. good question. but i think eventually it would be his.

[MosheFeingold]

8. And the name for this procedure is . . . .

An addadicktome!

Thank you. Thank you. I'll be here all week. Twice on Thursday. Be sure to tip your waiter or waitress.


And good night, Gracie. I'll love you always.

[jmowreader]

9. I seriously don't know...

Here you need to balance the positive effects of the surgery with the very real need to be on antirejection medications for the rest of your life.