Penile construction surgery in Delhi helps 34-year-old UP resident complete transition to man

“At the time of arrival at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the patient had all male characteristics including beard, hair on chest, male voice and male behaviour. The only remaining requirement was penile reconstruction (phalloplasty),” the statement said. Hospital authorities also shared that the patient is now married to a woman he has known since childhood.

Dr Bheem Singh Nanda, senior consultant, department of plastic and cosmetic surgery, said, “We decided to perform penile reconstruction for complete male transformation by state-of-the-art micro-surgical technique of tissue transfer. Our aim was to give good shape, length, urethra (to pass urine) and erotic sensation to the patient.”

Doctors chose the patient’s forearm for the material required for the reconstruction. “This was a challenging surgery as the penis was fabricated on the forearm with preservation of vessels and all the important nerves. The next step was to implant the reconstructed penis from the forearm to the genital area of the patient,” the statement said.

The surgery took around eight hours. “The second challenge was to join the urethra and then connect the vessels to establish the blood circulation again in the reconstructed penis. The last and the most important step was to join the nerves of the reconstructed penis with the erotic nerves (pudendal nerve and nerve to clitoris), which is the most important prerequisite for penile implant and sexual satisfaction later,” Nanda said.

Talking about the challenges of phalloplasty, Dr Nanda said, “Phalloplasty has matured considerably over the last decades in reconstructive options and technical refinements, thanks to increasing recognition of gender dysphoria. The primary goals of performing a phalloplasty are to facilitate sexual penetration, protective sensation, orgasm, standing micturition, and natural aesthetic, ideally in few stages and with minimal morbidity. Radial forearm free flap and anterolateral flap are the most common options, each with a unique profile of complications, aesthetic, and functional outcomes. Choices for reconstruction must be tailored to the individual patient’s goals and available tissue characteristics. In this case, we chose radial forearm flap technique because it gives better shape, urethra quality and good sensation compared to other techniques.”