Penile Fracture: Experience from a Third World Country

Aim. To ascertain the clinical presentation, commonest age group affected, and treatment of patients diagnosed to have penis fracture. Materials and Methods. We performed a retrospective study carried at a tertiary care hospital from January 2005 to January 2011. All the 36 patients diagnosed to have penile fracture were enrolled in the study group. The diagnosis was made based on the clinical findings in the patients. All, except two patients, were managed by a standard surgical procedure, same for all the patients, on the day of presentation to the hospital. All the data pertaining to the presentation, management, and followup of these patients were studied and scrutinized thoroughly. Results. Thirty-four patients were operated while 2 refused surgery. Most of our patients were between 16 and 30 years (55.6%) of age. The commonest presenting complaints were penile swelling and detumescence during sexual intercourse or an erection. All except two of our patients were managed with immediate surgical repair which had excellent results even in the presence of associated urethral injury. Conclusion. Fracture of the penis is a surgical emergency which can be best managed by immediate surgical repair with excellent results even in the presence of urethral injury. 1. Introduction Fracture of the penis is a tear in the tunica albuginea of the corpora cavernosa which may be associated with injury to the corpus spongiosum and urethra. Although fracture of the penis can be easily recognised clinically, it is under-reported due to the embarrassing nature of the injury to the patient. A crackling sound, pain, detumescence, bruising, swelling, and bleeding per urethra are the common symptoms reported by the patients. Due to the typical symptoms of fracture of the penis, surgical exploration can be performed without delay, avoiding the need of further diagnostic procedures [1, 2]. None the less if the cause is atypical or obscure, further diagnostic methods should be used to make the diagnosis. In order to avoid complications of conservative management, such as chordee or failure to attain erection, urgent and immediate surgical exploration is mandatory [3]. Our study was conducted retrospectively with the aim to ascertain the clinical presentation, commonest age group affected, and treatment of patients diagnosed to have penis fracture. 2. Materials and Methods A retrospective study was carried out at Government Medical College & Hospital Srinagar, that is, a tertiary care referral centre in Jammu and Kashmir, over a period of six years from January 2006 to January