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Tuesday 17 May 2016

Surgeons Perform First Successful Penis Transplant in the United States


A man who lost most of his genitals to penile cancer just received the first penis transplant in the United States. It's only the third time the highly experimental procedure has been done worldwide.
On May 8 and 9, transplant surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston gave Thomas Manning the new organ from a deceased donor, according to Denise Grady, who broke the story for the New York Times.

The 15-hour operation is part of a new wave of transplant surgeries — along with uterus and face transplants — that don't involve vital organs but could significantly improve quality of life and return potential lost in an accident, disease, or birth defect.
Manning should be able to urinate normally within weeks, and resume sexual activity after that, his doctors say.
But the novel operation carries a great deal of risk: Manning will need to be on immunosuppression drugs for life, which can increase the risk of cancer and damage other organs. And there's always the potential his body could reject the organ, said Dr. Curtis Cetrulo, the plastic and reconstructive surgeon who led the operation, in a press conference today. "It’s going to be a lifelong struggle."

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