Cape Town - Nine more candidates for penile transplants will also have their lives drastically improved after surgeons from Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital successfully performed the world’s first penile transplant.
The next operations, however, depend on donors and whether enough funds can be raised due to the surgery being expensive.
A 21-year-old, who did not want to be named, became the world’s first successful recipient of a penile transplant after a nine-hour operation performed at Tygerberg Hospital in December, with the transplant showing long-term success.
The transplant team was headed by Professor André van der Merwe, head of Stellenbosch University’s urology division, who has weekly follow-up consultations with the young man whose penis had to be amputated because of a botched circumcision during an initiation.
“He is recovering extremely well and is already back at work. He can also experience normal ejaculation and sexual intercourse, which was not possible before,” said Van der Merwe.
Van Der Merwe said the recipient was much more confident since his manhood has been restored. He said he found many young men with penile amputations were prone to suicide.
Because a penile transplant is not a life-saving procedure and the challenge to get funding is that much more difficult, the nine candidates next in line for the procedure will be desperately hoping for a donor and enough funding for the procedure.
Van der Merwe was assisted by Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital’s head of plastic reconstructive surgery division, Professor Frank Graewe.
Graewe said his 15 years of experience and fascination with human anatomy helped him perform the groundbreaking surgery.
Graewe said he was surprised when asked to join the team.
“It is always difficult to do something with such media coverage. We try and continue to improve procedures so that they are less invasive.”
Graewe was born in Germany but moved to South Africa to study medicine and specialised in plastic surgery.
“Fine work, delicate type of work and small structures fascinated me. At some point I thought of doing brain surgery but decided against it because it was bound to hospitals and big machinery. I wanted to do something that can be done anywhere, even in rural areas.”
After graduating as a plastic surgeon in 2001, Graewe returned to Germany before heading to Zurich. He was lucky to land himself internships in Paris and then Dallas.
In 2005, he returned to South Africa and was appointed chairman of Stellenbosch University’s plastic surgery division.
“I love Cape Town; it’s the most beautiful city. So my wife and I decided to move back.”
Graewe got involved in a breast clinic, diagnosing and treating breast cancer.
But in 2010, van der Merwe, a friend and colleague, extended an invitation to Graewe to help conduct a groundbreaking operation.
Van der Merwe had been working on the penile transplant case for years.
“He had less than a centimetre stump left of his penis,” said Graewe.
The first practical part of the surgery started on December 10 last year.
“At 4pm till 6pm we were busy harvesting the penis (removing the penis from its original owner – a brain dead patient). We stored it in a cool place. The same night at around 3am in the morning we started the transplant and finished off at around 12 noon,” said Graewe.
“There were a lot of young doctors hanging around; one was from Canada and he had postponed his flight back home especially for this.
“There were a lot of risks and there could have been complications such as the penis not working, and infections. And in any type of surgery, death is also a risk.”
The delicate procedure required the blood vessels from the man’s stomach, Graewe said
But Graewe said the young man showed tenacity even during last week’s follow-up surgery that restored his ability to urinate normally.
Cape Argus and Cape Times