Man cuts off penis in drunken bet
From: Agence France-Presse
July 21, 2006
A MAN who cut off his own penis in a drunken bet had it stitched back on by Latvian doctors, the first such operation in the country's history.
While strongly under the influence of alcohol, the 30-year-old made a bet with his friend for 1000 lats ($A2600) that he would cut off his penis, according to a Latvian public television report.
He was taken to hospital with severe bleeding yesterday.
"We have had a few cases with penis traumas, when it was half-cut or damaged, but this is the first time that it was totally cut off - and brought to hospital in a plastic bag," said microsurgeon Aivars Tihonovs from Gailezers hospital in the Latvian capital, Riga.
The operation lasted three and a half hours as doctors had to sew six nerves back together, according to media reports.
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"The first operation of this kind in the world was carried out in 1977, and it is still very rare," Dr Tihonovs said, adding that such surgery was sometimes needed after bomb explosions.
The surgeon said that he was proud of his work but also "really angry that he (the patient) did it to himself".
Doctors said that it would take four or five days to assess if the operation was successful. It would take about half a year to be sure that the man's penis was functioning properly.
This is when you have a gambling problem
