What is the possibility or otherwise of transplanting a penis?
We don’t call it transplanting the penis but repairing the penis. Someone has lost his penis, you can repair it. When we do that we call it repairing the penis but the technical word for that is called phalloplasty (which refers to the construction or reconstruction of a penis or, sometimes, artificial modification of the penis by surgery, often for cosmetic purposes). When you do phalloplasty, is easier taking tissues from some parts of the patient’s body and you take them to the area of the penis. The tissue that makes up a penis is a special tissue and the quality it has, has to do with the ability for erection and you don’t have that tissue anywhere else in the body that bring about erection. The tissue you brought from anywhere else is a tissue which you can manipulate in any other way with some support of some technologies so that the patient can have access to penetration during quitus, that is sex. That is simply what it is all about and it is practically possible.
Can such a patient be able to give birth?
Sure. When you do it, you construct the penis. Giving birth, however, is not the big problem because you can produce semen through many means. But when you do such repairs of penis, you do it to bring the penis as near possible to the normal one. The normal one is where you have a hole inside, we call it urine’s wrap, where urine and semen pass out. If you have that, then sometimes we create some sensitive skin on top of it so that we can have sensation. If you have sensation, sometimes you have some assisted gadgets that would help the person to release, to ejaculate, and once one ejaculates, the person can have children, why not?
Can such surgery be conducted in ABUTH?
Why not, there is no big deal about it. We know about which skin to use and the technology of getting such skin is not a big deal. We can get it and do it.
What are the processes involved in such surgery?
It is technical but let me try to simplify it. When you want to construct a penis, that is Palophilasty, we take cognisance of where the skin is going to come from. We can take it from the forearms; we call it the forearms graphs. Some people prepare to take from the upper arms, as the case may be but the forearms are the best tissue to be used in such surgery because there are some nice mells and arteries that would encourage the tissue to stay where you are taking it to without problem. In those days, we use to take tissues from inner thigh or even lower abdomen. Every specialist has his own choice.
After such surgery, does the patient requires routine checkups?
Sure, there is no surgery you do and the patient would just go like that because you must see the patient following up. He has to see you and tells you he is performing. There may be few complications here and there and you need to tidy them up. We don’t need to go deep into these complications. There may be few problems after every surgery. The patient must come back to tell you that he is doing well or he is not satisfied. He may come back for some added procedures, among others. It is a very interesting surgery and patients really get satisfied when you do it.
