(Reuters) - South African doctors havesuccessfully performed the world's first penis transplant on ayoung man who had his organ amputated after a botchedcircumcision ritual, a hospital said on Friday.
The nine-hour transplant, which occurred in December lastyear, was part of a pilot study by Tygerberg Hospital in CapeTown and the University of Stellenbosch to help scores ofinitiates who either die or lose their penises in botchedcircumcisions each year.
"This is a very serious situation. For a young man of 18 or19 years the loss of his penis can be deeply traumatic," saidAndre van der Merwe, head of the university's urology unit andwho led the operation said in a statement.
The young patient had recovered full use of his manhood,doctors said, adding that the procedure could eventually beextended to men who have lost their penises to cancer or as alast resort for severe erectile dysfunction.
"There is a greater need in South Africa for this type ofprocedure than elsewhere in the world, as many young men losetheir penises every year due to complications from traditionalcircumcision," Van der Merwe said.
The patient, who is not being named for ethical reasons, was21 years old when his penis was amputated three years ago afterhe developed severe complications due to a traditionalcircumcision as a rite of passage into manhood.
Finding a donor organ was one of the major challenges of thestudy, a statement by the university said.
The donor was a deceased person who donated his organs fortransplant, doctors said without elaborating.
Each year thousands of young men, mainly from the Xhosatribe in South Africa, have their foreskins removed intraditional rituals, with experts estimating around 250 losingtheir penises each year to medical complications.
Initiates are required to live in special huts away from thecommunity for several weeks, have their heads shaved and smearwhite clay from head to toe and they move into adulthood.
Another nine patients will receive penile transplants aspart of the study, doctors said, but it was not clear when theoperations could be carried out. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia)
The nine-hour transplant, which occurred in December lastyear, was part of a pilot study by Tygerberg Hospital in CapeTown and the University of Stellenbosch to help scores ofinitiates who either die or lose their penises in botchedcircumcisions each year.
"This is a very serious situation. For a young man of 18 or19 years the loss of his penis can be deeply traumatic," saidAndre van der Merwe, head of the university's urology unit andwho led the operation said in a statement.
The young patient had recovered full use of his manhood,doctors said, adding that the procedure could eventually beextended to men who have lost their penises to cancer or as alast resort for severe erectile dysfunction.
"There is a greater need in South Africa for this type ofprocedure than elsewhere in the world, as many young men losetheir penises every year due to complications from traditionalcircumcision," Van der Merwe said.
The patient, who is not being named for ethical reasons, was21 years old when his penis was amputated three years ago afterhe developed severe complications due to a traditionalcircumcision as a rite of passage into manhood.
Finding a donor organ was one of the major challenges of thestudy, a statement by the university said.
The donor was a deceased person who donated his organs fortransplant, doctors said without elaborating.
Each year thousands of young men, mainly from the Xhosatribe in South Africa, have their foreskins removed intraditional rituals, with experts estimating around 250 losingtheir penises each year to medical complications.
Initiates are required to live in special huts away from thecommunity for several weeks, have their heads shaved and smearwhite clay from head to toe and they move into adulthood.
Another nine patients will receive penile transplants aspart of the study, doctors said, but it was not clear when theoperations could be carried out. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia)
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