First ever penis transplant recipient in the US released from hospital after successful surgery
The first ever penis transplant has taken place in the US, as the recipient has been released rom hospital.
Thomas Manning, who lost part of his penis after being diagnosed with penile cancer, was the first to receive the transplant.
The 64-year-old shed a tear as he spoke to reporters after being discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital on Wednesday.
Following on from two surgeries, Manning said he can now urinate normally and can walk around.
While sexual function is not yet possible, Manning is expected to make a full recovery.
Speaking to press as he left the hospital, he shed a tear, recalling taking off the bandages for the first time.
“It took me a few days to look at it, so confidence comes and goes,” he said. “It’s one of those things that, if you look at it, it doesn’t look too good.”
He says he hasn’t felt any pain from the surgery, and that it had suddenly dawned on him that he was the first in the US to receive the surgery.
“I didn’t think too much of it, and then it hit me that I was the only one,” he said. “That’s when it hit
me.”
He is the first person in the US, and the third person in the world to receive a penis transplant.
Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital last year announced that they intended to go ahead with the groundbreaking surgery soon.
The plan was for the surgery to be offered to around 60 veterans who have been the victim of combat injuries, it could eventually be opened up to trans men, or men with birth defects.
Surgeons at Johns Hopkins said they would use a donor organ gained from a recently deceased man, but the family must approve of the penis being removed.
Blood vessels and nerves must be attached under a microscope in order for the surgery to be successful.
Dr Richard Redett, a plastic surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital earlier this year, said: “When you meet these guys and you realise what they’ve given for the country, it makes a lot of sense.”
Once surgeons have found a donor with an appropriate skin colour and age, the surgery will happen in coming weeks.
Surgeons transplant the scrotum, thigh skin and penis, but the testes are not transplanted.
Two penis transplants are known to have taken place previously – one in 2006, in China, which was unsuccessful.
A second, performed in 2014 in South Africa, was successful.
