This story hurts even to read …
A man from the Netherlands had to undergo penile reconstruction surgery after a snake bitten his best piece on a safari in South Africa.
The banded cobra (Naja annulifera) caught its 47-year-old victim in the toilet, and the man suffered from the bite from what is known as scrotum necrosis. In this life-threatening disease caused by bacteria, the tissue becomes infected and dies.
“His penis and scrotum swelled extremely, the blood circulation was completely disturbed,” reports the medical journal “ScienceDirect”. Another problem was that the tourist was in such a remote area of Africa that it took three hours before he could be flown to a special clinic.
“When he was admitted to the hospital, his penis and scrotum were extremely swollen, deep purple in color, and very painful. He was given multiple doses of snake venom antiserum and broad spectrum antibiotics, ”the medical report said.
According to the experts, this is the first case of genital poisoning by a cobra. “The scrotum necrosis affected the entire skin down to the inner spermatic cord and was removed with large margins. A drainage had to be laid ”.
The defect in the penile shaft was treated with a vacuum-assisted closure pump. Back in the Netherlands, a plastic surgeon had to completely remove the dead tissue on the penis shaft, transplant skin from the groin onto the penis and reconstruct it.
Despite the shock and exertion, the patient has now fully recovered, and genital function has also been restored, according to the journal.