Is Penis Transplantation A Thing?

“Penis Transplantation After Penile Cancer:

Real Medicine, Experimental Frontier, or Both?”

In 2016, an article by medical-imaging journalist Eric Barnes described one of the most unusual reconstructive operations ever attempted: the first penis transplant performed in the United States. The recipient, Thomas Manning, had undergone a partial penectomy after penile cancer. Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital attached a penis from a deceased donor during a complex operation involving blood vessels, nerves, erectile tissue, the urethra and skin.

The article, “Imaging Takes Leading Role in Penis Transplant,” focused especially on the use of CT angiography, conventional angiography and MRI to help the surgical team study the recipient’s anatomy and plan the procedure. The account was published by AuntMinnie.com on June 5, 2016, shortly after the operation.

At first glance, the procedure can sound almost too extraordinary to be credible. But the basic event was real, and it was not simply a sensational news story. Massachusetts General Hospital.