The correction of congenital penile curvature in young men.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the long-term outcome of multiple parallel plication (MPP) used for correcting congenital penile curvature (with normal urethra and corpus spongiosum), a technique which takes account of the greater force of erection in young men (mean arterial pressure approximately 100 mmHg) than in neonates (approximately 60 mmHg).

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

All young men who underwent surgical correction of congenital penile curvature using the multiple parallel plication technique between 1992 and 1995 were reviewed, from their charts and by a telephone survey.

RESULTS

Ten patients (mean age 22.3 years, SD 4, range 17-29) were identified, all of whom had been followed for more than one year (mean 2.8, SD 1.3, range 1.2-4.8). All 10 patients reported a preoperative curvature of 60-90 degrees; postoperatively, eight of the 10 patients had a successful outcome, based on self-documentation of a straighter penis (eight) and/or satisfactory intercourse (four). Two of these eight requested follow-up plications to correct a residual curvature of 15 degrees. All patients reported feeling the sutures as a small bump on the dorsal aspect of the penis. In one patient this was considered bothersome, but it did not interfere with intercourse. In one patient the curvature recurred 5 weeks after surgery, following intercourse. Another patient was lost to follow-up and could not be evaluated.

CONCLUSION

The MPP technique has the following advantages; it entails no dissection of the neurovascular bundle or corpus spongiosum of the tunica, avoiding complications (such as impotence and urethral injury) that may occur with manipulation of these structures; it can be performed under local anaesthesia and can be completed within 30 min; suture cut-through is unlikely because the dorsum (12 o'clock position) of the tunica albuginea is the thickest and hence strongest area of the corporal body; and the straightness of the penis can be determined easily because erection is sustained throughout the procedure. The disadvantages of the MPP technique are; several small bumps from the nonabsorbable sutures may be palpable, and the patient needs to be informed of this preoperatively: aspiration and phenylephrine injection may be required to prevent priapism.