On July 29, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital announced that it had successfully performed the first penis transplant from a brain-dead donor in Vietnam. This is the first transplant in the field of complex tissue transplantation successfully implemented in the country, marking another milestone of Vietnamese medicine.
The recipient of the transplant is a 43-year-old male, who had to have his penis sectioned at the Center for Andrology, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital. After 4 years of treatment, the patient's health was stable, but the remaining penis was too short, causing many difficulties in sexual activity, greatly affecting psychology and quality of life.
Although still preserving urinary function, patients always want to have a penis transplant to restore morphology, function and gradually return to normal life.
Before deciding on the transplant, the patient was comprehensively assessed with a series of hematology, biochemistry, heart and lung function tests and imaging diagnosis. The results showed stable health, no contraindications in terms of expertise and the vascular system in the transplant area met the surgical requirements.
After a multi-specialized consultation, full assessment of expertise, immunity, psychology and ethical factors, the patient is determined to be eligible for transplantation. This decision is carefully considered with the goal of not only restoring morphology but also improving function and long-term quality of life.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang, Director of the Center for Andrology, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, said that this is a particularly complex surgery. The team had to reconstruct all anatomical structures of the penis, including the urethra, porous body and cavernous body, and use a microscope to stitch up arteries, veins and nerves that are very small in size.
Plastic and microsurgery techniques are closely coordinated throughout the surgery, requiring very high accuracy to ensure the life of the graft and create conditions for functional recovery," Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang shared.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Ha, Head of the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Aesthetics, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, the success of the transplant was built on the nearly 20-year experience of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital in reattachment of severed penises due to accidents and penis shaping for patients with burns, congenital defects, no penis or needing shaping during gender identification.
In addition to surgical techniques, the transplant also fully applies the modern tissue-organ transplant procedure, from assessing the level of immune compatibility between donor and recipient, preserving the graft, treating anti-rejection treatment to monitoring postoperative blood supply by clinical examination and Doppler ultrasound. All stages are carried out according to strict procedures to ensure that the graft can survive and function.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, said that according to world medical literature, so far only 5 penis transplants have been announced, of which the most recent case was reported in 2018.
As the first transplant in Vietnam, the team has prepared very carefully in terms of expertise, building procedures, researching international experience and mobilizing the coordination of many specialties such as organ transplantation, andrology, microsurgery, anesthesia and resuscitation, immunology, pathology, testing and nursing," Mr. Hung said.
The patient's post-transplant progression is very positive. The graft is well irrigated with blood, the color and temperature are normal, no signs of necrosis or blockage have been recorded. Clinical monitoring and Doppler ultrasound results show that the blood vessel system is operating stably.
The patient was awake, overall stable, vital signs were within normal limits. The incision progressed well, no significant early complications were recorded. Urinary function was closely monitored and the patient responded well to the anti-rejection treatment regimen as well as post-transplant care regimen.
However, doctors said that penis transplantation is a complex tissue transplantation form, so it still takes more time to assess the ability to restore sensation, erectile function, urethral alignment as well as the risk of transplant remission in the medium and long term.
