Penis transplantation
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Editor-in-Chief: Joel Gelman, M.D. [2], Director of the Center for Reconstructive Urology and Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Urology at the University of California, Irvine
Overview[edit | edit source]
Penis transplantation is a surgical transplant procedure in which a replacement penis, either one grown artificially (untested in humans) or from a deceased human donor (allograft), is transplanted onto a patient. In a similar fashion to other peripheral transplant procedures such as hand transplant and face transplant surgery, using a penis from a deceased donor is controversial because it is not necessary to ensure the life of the patient.
Allotransplant procedure[edit | edit source]
The patient will have typically lost their penis, either through felonious assault, accidental injury or self-mutilation, or possibly have a birth defect causing disfigurement or total loss of the penis. The procedure was first performed successfully in September 2005 at a military hospital in Guangzhou, China. The patient, a 44-year-old male, had sustained partial penis loss. The penis came from a 23-year-old brain-dead male. Although successful, the patient and his wife suffered psychological trauma as a result of the procedure and later had the surgery reversed.[3]
Lab grown penis[edit | edit source]
A possible alternative to the allotransplant is growing a penis artificially in a laboratory. Although not yet trialled in humans, in 2006 researchers succeeded in replacing a rabbit's penis with one grown in a laboratory.[1] The penises were grown on a matrix from the rabbit's own cells, and contained nerves and blood vessels allowing them to become fully functional.
In fiction[edit | edit source]
- Penis transplantation was the subject of the early-1970s comedies, Percy, and Percy's Progress.
- The pilot episode of Max Headroom makes references to the harvesting of a complete set of male genitalia for the purpose of transplantation. This is a throwaway joke heard on the radio after it has been established that dead bodies in this future society are turned over to organ harvesters.
- The Hong Kong erotic comedy film Sex and Zen features a penis transplantation.
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
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