TITLE:
First Reconstructive Plastic Surgery of the Perineum in a Hominin Pan paniscus (Bonobo) and Plea by a Plastic Surgeon for Surgery for the Benefit of All Hominins (Members of the Human Lineage)
AUTHORS:
Kapay Kibadi
KEYWORDS:
Bonobo, Perineal Trauma, Extensive Loss of Soft Tissues, Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Congo
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.13 No.3,
July
24,
2023
ABSTRACT: We present, for the first time, the repair by plastic
surgery procedures of a large loss of
perineal substance in a bonobo (hominin Pan
paniscus). A 20-year-old male bonobo living in captivity in the Lola Ya
Bonobo Sanctuary in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was attacked by another bonobo. It was a
large perineal wound through which urine flowed, located between the penis and
the testicles, taking part of the anterior and posterior urethra, the bladder, as well as the elements
of the spermatic duct. To repair the large loss of perineal substance, a
pedicled flap of scrotal skin was removed, and then turned over, cutaneous
surface on the trench of the loss of bladder substance and the urethral lumen.
The postoperative course was satisfactory with healing by the first intention of the surgical
wound, despite the wild postoperative behavior of the patient (removal of the
vesicourethral catheter and protective plaster). We observed in the short term an
urethro-cutaneous fistula, left in natural
healing. The reconstructive surgery procedures applied in humans can
also be applied with satisfactory results in bonobos, a species in the process
of extension and whose members are our closest cousins. The bonobo is
genetically close to humans. Based on this first successful experience, we
advocate for reconstructive plastic surgery for all hominins (members of the
human lineage), if indicated.