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A nine-year-old Gabonese boy accidentally amputated his penis while crushing vegetables with a pestle and mortar.
The unidentified boy had been trying to help his mother pound the vegetables with the enormous pestle when he hit his penis, amputating the head of the penis and rupturing his urethra.
The boy was rushed to hospital, with a blood-soaked bandage around his penis. He underwent a preoperative assessment before being admitted to the operating room, according to a case study published recently in the journal Urology Case Reports.
Incredibly, doctors managed to save his penis, cleaning the wound and sewing the head back on.
However, he then suffered a severe infection that caused his genitals to swell and the stitches on his penis to loosen. He was treated with antibiotics, and the infection eventually disappeared.
He spent 25 days in hospital before returning home.
According to the case study, the child returned for a checkup a year later and his penis was in perfect condition.
Experts say that it's uncommon to encounter penis injuries in children, and treating these types of injury isn't easy.
"These are rare but often serious emergencies,” the report says. “They're largely caused by accidents in the home, sports and circumcision. Treatment in less serious forms poses fewer problems and gives better aesthetic and functional results.”
READ MORE | A Dutch man underwent reconstructive penis surgery after cobra hiding in toilet bowl bit him on SA safari
Last year, a Dutch tourist underwent surgery to rebuild his penis after he was bitten by a cobra while visiting a nature reserve in South Africa. The venomous snake had tucked itself inside a toilet bowl and pounced while the 47-year-old was relieving himself.
In Brazil, 1 000 men reportedly have their penises amputated annually, said the country's president Jair Bolsonaro, blaming it on “a lack of water and soap”.
SOURCES: sciencedirect.com, dailymail.co.uk, nypost.com
