In the UK, surgeons have successfully transplanted the penis of a man who had inadvertently cut it. An unpublished case reported in the BMJ Case Report.

The 34-year-old patient, suffering from schizophrenia in his paranoid form, was admitted to hospital after a psychotic episode in which he allegedly tried to kill himself with a knife. Having injured his neck and abdomen, the man in this moment of madness, cut his penis unintentionally. Found unconscious, he was rushed to hospital. His penis was picked up, placed in ice, and deposited with the surgeons.

Research has shown that it is necessary to act quickly to reimplant a severed limb and operate within 15 hours of separation, the average being 7 hours. In the man’s case, 23 hours had passed before he was fit for the procedure.

Nevertheless, after examining the penis, the doctors identified the dorsal artery, the vein, and the nerve. After rinsing the dorsal artery with a saline solution containing an anticoagulant, they found that the blood circulation could resume and decided to try it. The surgeons needed to use one of the veins in his arm to attach the severed part of the stump, but the operation was successful.

“The patient reported a return of sensation in the penis as well as a spontaneous erection 6 weeks after the operation,” write the doctors. The man also received a skin transplant sometime later, which went well. “The success of this case should encourage surgeons to attempt a re-implantation of the penis, even with an extended period of ischemia, due to possible success and the potential physical and psychosocial effects associated with the loss of this organ for the patient.”