Male Genital Adds To List Of Organs That Can Be Donated After 1st Successful Penis Transplant In South Africa

Mar 15, 2015 02:39 AM EDT

(Photo : Reuters) Then deputy health minister Huang Jiefu (C) and his colleagues bow as they pay a silent tribute to a deceased patient who was willing to donate her organs, at a hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong province November 22, 2012. China will start phasing out its decades-long practice of using the organs of executed prisoners for transplant operations from November, a senior official said on Thursday, as it pushes to mandate the use of organs from ethical sources in hospitals. The health ministry will begin enforcing the use of organs from voluntary donors allocated through a fledging national programme at a meeting set to be held in November, former deputy health minister Huang Jiefu, who still heads the ministry's organ transplant office, told Reuters. Picture taken November 22, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA - Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY)

With more people being encouraged to donate organs or sign organ donation cards, another body part may soon be added to the usual list of body parts to be harvested after one's death.

Besides the heart, liver and kidney, the male genital could possibly be added since a successful penis transplant in December 2014 in South Africa showed that such a human organ transplant is possible.

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The South African procedure offered males who are the victims of botched circumcisions or whose member was chopped by their jealous wife or girlfriend another chance to have a normal sex life.

The nine-hour surgery was done on December 11, 2014, at the Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital. The man lost his manhood in 2012 due to complications after he had a traditional circumcision procedure, according to Bloomberg.

The doctors said that the patient has fully recovered three months after the surgery. They explained that his transplanted penis is functional, both urinary and reproductive functions.

"We've proved that it can be done - we can give someone an organ that is just as good as the one he had," Frank Graewe, head of Stellenbosch University's Division of Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, said in a statement,

Graewe continued, "It was a privilege to be part of this first successful penis transplant in the world."

Andre Van der Merwe, the lead surgeon and head of Urology at Stellenbosch University, said the man's fast recovery is impressive, but he added the patient must wait for two years before he could gain full use of his transplanted penis.

The team of doctors used the same microscopic surgery technique that was utilized in the world's first facial transplant to connect small blood vessels and nerves. They likewise used the psychological evaluation.

Dr Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine Director Dr. Anthony Atala stressed how important it is to have a follow-up to ensure there won't be a repeat of what happened in China.

Actually, China performed for firs penis transplant in the world in 2006, but the surgery was reversed after two weeks because of the psychological problems suffered by the organ recipient.

Tagsorgan donation, Penis, South Africa