Living with someone else's penis: The lived experiences of two South African penile allograft recipients: A descriptive phenomenological study
| Autor: | Mohammed Rafique Moosa, Chantelle J. Scott, Heidi van Deventer, Yoesrie Toefy, Andre van der Merwe |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Health Economic Evaluation
medicine.medical_specialty business.industry media_common.quotation_subject Allotransplantation Context (language use) General Medicine Ceremony Transplantation Phenomenology (philosophy) Penile transplantation Feeling Ritual circumcision Family medicine Vascular composite allograft medicine Surgery Meaning (existential) Thematic analysis business Psychosocial media_common |
| Zdroj: | Annals of Medicine and Surgery |
| ISSN: | 2049-0801 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.amsu.2021.102794 |
| Popis: | Background In South Africa, penile loss is a recognised complication of ritual circumcision which has a profoundly negative effect on these men's psyches and their everyday lives. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the experiences of the first two South African penile allograft transplantation recipients in order to assess the psychosocial impact of this surgery. Materials and methods A qualitative descriptive phenomenology approach was used. A total of four in-depth interviews were conducted with the two South African penile transplant recipients. The interviews were transcribed verbatim while adding the field and observational notes. Thematic analysis was used to derive meaning from the collected data. Results After the penile loss, both participants reported feeling suicidal for the following reasons: their communities shunned them and regarded them as ‘dead,’ they felt severely ashamed of their disfigured bodies, they were unable to develop intimate relationships and could not have children. Transplantation gave them a fully functional penis, which resolved the majority of these issues. The participants were able to build relationships and satisfy their own and their partners' sexual and relationship needs. The transplant led to complete restoration of their self-image and manhood. They were, however, still persecuted by their traditional communities as they had not successfully completed the ritual circumcision ceremony. Conclusion This study emphasises the necessity of offering penile transplantation as treatment for penile loss as this is not only life enhancing but lifesaving, especially within the South African context. Highlights • Recipients fully accepted the transplanted penis as their own. • Penile function was fully restored including sexual function and therefore the ability to reproduce. • Penile transplantation had positive impact on recipients' psychological state and self-image. • Despite need for lifelong immunosuppressants, recipients were satisfied with decision to have penile tansplant. • The emotional and social transformation which occurred in the recipients were not only life-enhancing, but lifesaving. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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