More than 60 other potential patients - all of them wounded US servicemen - are waiting in the wings to follow the first penis transplant. Photo / AP
Johns Hopkins University has selected a wounded soldier as a patient for the country's first penis transplant, Reuters reported today. The university announced its intention, in December, to perform the first surgery of this kind in the United States, and surgeons there have been practicing the 12-hour procedure on cadavers
to prepare for their patients.
The surgery could take place within the next few weeks, pending the selection of a donor of the right age and skin colour and permission of their next of kin. The potential stigma surrounding penis donation is one of the biggest problem for Johns Hopkins to overcome. In fact, the medical team has expressed concern that the very existence of penis transplants in the United States may discourage some individuals from donating any of their organs. For now, penile donation is strictly opt-in.
The first successful penis transplant was performed last year in South Africa, and has resulted in a child for the recipient. In South Africa, the procedure was developed to help men injured during ritual circumcisions, which are common in the country's Xhosa tribe.
In the United States, the target demographic for the surgery will be wounded veterans. The Defense Department's Trauma Registry reports that 1,367 military servicemen sustained injuries to the genitals between 2011 and 2013 in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The anonymous first patient is a soldier who lost most of his penis in an explosion overseas. More than 60 other potential patients - all of them wounded servicemen - are waiting in the wings to follow.
