Reconstructive surgery and its many miracles, it has to be said, now that the transplantation of one of the most delicate organs of all, the penis, has also been successful. Some may let out a smirk or a joke, but there is no joking about this which, just like the organ in question, is a decidedly sensitive subject.

The world's first penis transplant was performed last December in South Africa on a 21-year-old patient who had lost the organ due to a ritual circumcision gone wrong. Three years ago, when complications arose after the circumcision, doctors had only managed to save one centimetre of the original penis.

Now the boy has a new, fully functioning penis in every respect. Only three months after the operation, he has in fact regained perfect function of the organ, both urologically and sexually, and the doctors believe that he will be able to regain 100% sensitivity within a couple of years. Confirming its perfect functionality is the recent statement of the patient's partner, who is a few months pregnant. The man with the transplanted penis will therefore become a father, it seems incredible.

The operation, which lasted nine hours, was made possible thanks to the organ of a deceased donor. The technique used by the team of doctors from the University of Stellenbosch is very similar to that used for face transplants, the challenge in these cases being to be able to join together blood vessels and nerves with a diameter of even less than 2 mm.

Now that the South African team has demonstrated that such a surgery is possible and that it is possible to restore a 100 per cent functioning organ, new scenarios for this type of penis surgery will surely open up. Other patients are already on the list to receive a new penis and thus enter the first pilot study to perfect the surgery.

This is a decisive breakthrough for surgery, an operation that will benefit people who - like its pioneer - lose their penises as a result of botched circumcisions (there are at least 250 every year in South Africa alone), but also patients suffering from cancer, genetic abnormalities, or the side effects of erectile dysfunction treatments.