Penis transplant planned at Johns Hopkins for injured US soldiers

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US soldiers who have incurred genital damage in the line of duty may get penis transplants soon as planned by Johns Hopkins surgeons.

Most military veterans don't often go through their service unscathed. Wars have sent men home with missing limbs, broken bones and sometimes sensitive, hidden "damages." According to the 2001 to 2013 Department of Defense Trauma Registry, more than 1,300 men have suffered from genitourinary injuries or wounds to the genitals. The soldiers involved are under 35 years old and were blasted by homemade explosive devices during their service Iraq or Afghanistan. Some lost all of their male reproductive organs while some only lost part of their testicles or penises, New York Times reports.

According to the outlet, the transplant will involve the penis coming from a donor who is deceased. It will be the first operation of its kind in the country and medical experts at the Johns Hopkins University School say that the organ should be functional in a few months. Transplanted patients will be able to normally urinate and even have sex again. There have only been two attempts at penis transplant in the world. The first one was a failed surgery in China in 2006. The South African transplant last year, however, was considered successful.

"These genitourinary injuries are not things we hear about or read about very often," said Dr. W. P. Andrew Lee, chairman of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the hospital. "I think one would agree it is as devastating as anything that our wounded warriors suffer, for a young man to come home in his early 20s with the pelvic area completely destroyed."

According to Youth Health Mag, it is unclear if penis transplant will be a suitable treatment for soldiers who have suffered wounds to their genitals. The surgery comes with many risks including blood loss, infections and increased chance of developing cancer because of immunosuppression drugs that need to be taken in order for the new organ to not be rejected.

Daily Mail reports that the surgery will help wounded young soldiers get on with their life and even have kids in the future. However, those who have damaged testicles may not be able to father children.

Doctors say that the first transplant will be done on an Afghanistan veteran who  is currently on the waiting list for an organ donation. The donor's family will be asked for special permission to use their loved one's sexual organ for transplant.