America saw its first successful penile transplant at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital last week.
A team of over 50 surgeons operated on 64-year-old Thomas Manning, who lost his penis to cancer in 2012, in a 15-hour-long groundbreaking surgery.
Manning has received a cadaver organ; the deceased organ donor's identity has not been released.
Doctors are "cautiously optimistic"that Manning will eventually be capable of normal urination and sexual function. However, he will not be able to have children as he has not received new testes.
They added that his psychological state will play "a big role in his recovery". So far, Manning's body has shown no signs of rejecting the new organ.
In a statement, Manning said, "Today I begin a new chapter filled with personal hope and hope for others who have suffered genital injuries. In sharing this success with all of you, it is my hope we can usher in a bright future for this type of transplantation."
While penile transplantation is not new to the world, it is a highly experimental surgery and has not been widely performed. Here are a few things to know about penile transplantation:
1. World's first penile transplantation
In September 2006, the world's first penile transplantation was performed on a 44-year-old man, who had lost his penis in an accident, at a military hospital inChina's Guangzhou.
However, despite the surgery being a success, the patient had the procedure reversed within 15 daysdue to psychology trauma inflicted by the transplant on him and his wife.
2. World's first 'successful' penile transplantation
The world's first successful penile transplantation was pulled off at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, in December 2014.
The nine-hour-long surgery was performed on a 21-year-old man who lost his penis to a botched circumcision at the age of 18. In June 2015, doctors announced that the recipient had successfully conceived a child.
3. Laboratory-grown penises for transplantation
In 2008, Dr Anthony Atala of Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina attempted bio-engineered penile transplantation, fitting 12 rabbits with lab-grown organs.
These rabbits went on to procreate, establishing Atala's test, which he had been working on since 1992, as a success. However, this procedure has not be carried out on humans yet.
4. Transplantation for war veterans
A team of doctors at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore is set to perform a penis transplant in a wounded veteran soon.
Dr WP Andrew Lee, chairman of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins, believes this new field is important for "people who want to feel whole again after the loss of important body parts."
5. Difference between penile transplant and sex-change surgery
In case of transgender surgery, penis can be fashioned from the patient's own skin, using implants or phalloplasty, for erection, etc.
A transplantation, on the other hand, consists of surgically fitting a donor organ to the recipient's body and comes with the delicate process of connecting tiny blood vessels and nerves to the functional, transplant penis.
6. Finding a suitable donor
Since this procedure still depends of cadaver organ, there is aperpetual challenge of finding a donor for the transplant.
"People are still reluctant to donate," Dr Andre van der Merwe of the University of Stellenbosch told AP. "There are huge psychological issues about donating your relative's penis."