Doctors successfully performed world's first penis transplant

South African doctors have successfully performed the world’s first penis transplant on a patient who had a botched circumcision, Reuters reported.

The 21-year-old patient, who was not named, had the organ amputated three years ago after a botched circumcision.

Reuters said the nine-hour operation, which took place in December, was part of a pilot study by Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town and the University of Stellenbosch to help the 250 or so young South African men who lose their penises each year after coming-of-age rituals go wrong.

According to doctors, the man had already recovered full urinary and reproductive functions.

They are now looking to offer the procedure to men who have lost their penis to cancer or as a last resort for severe erectile dysfunction.

“Our goal was that he would be fully functional at two years and we are very surprised by his rapid recovery,” Andre van der Merwe, the head of the university’s urology unit who led the operation, said in a statement to Reuters.

Another nine patients have now been lined up to have the operation.

Ritual circumcision is a traditional practice among South African men, mainly the Xhosa tribe to mark their passage into manhood.