TheCable

Year 2014 would be remembered for many things, one of which would be the year that the world had its first successful penis transplant.

According to BBC, a surgical team in South Africa has recorded the first successful penis transplant in a bid to meet up with the penile needs of many South African youths.

The 21-year-old recipient, whose identify is being protected, lost his penis in a complicated circumcision process.

The doctors in Cape Town said the operation was a success and the patient said he was happy and healthy.

In parts South Africa, circumcision is part of the transition from boyhood to adulthood.

This process, if badly carried out, leads to maimed penis and deaths in some cases, with scores of death being recorded annually from failed circumcision.

The boy who was involved in the transplant was said to be left with just one centimetre (cm) of his original penis, after the circumcision.

Doctors say South Africa has some of the greatest need for penis transplants anywhere in the world, with many South Africans losing a good percentage of their penis to circumcision.

Surgeons at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital performed a nine-hour operation to attach a donated penis.

Andre Van der Merwe, one of the surgeons who normally perform kidney transplants, told the BBC that penis transplant “is definitely much more difficult, the blood vessels are 1.5 mm wide. In the kidney, it can be 1 cm.”

The acquired penis has not achieved full sensation and doctors suggest this could take two years, but the man is able to pass urine, have an erection, orgasm and ejaculate.

Van der Merwe, who explained how difficult it was to obtain ethical approval to perform the transplant since it was “not life-saving like heart transplant, said penis transplant was almost as important.

“You may say it doesn’t save their life, but any of these young men when they have penile amputations are ostracised, stigmatised and take their own life.

“If you don’t have a penis, you are essentially dead. If you give a penis back, you can bring them back to life.”

A recent study has shown that the average length of the penis is 13.12 centimetres (5.16 inches) in length when erect and 11.66cm (4.6 inches) around. When “soft”, it is 9.16cm (3.6 inches) in length, with a girth of 9.31cm (3.7 inches).