Penile Fracture Happens In Real Life Not Just On
Grey's
Anatomy
Medicalnewstoday.com, January 26, 2009. An episode of
American hospital drama Grey's
Anatomy screened in the US last
week has led to thousands of young men scouring the
internet
to find out if it really is possible for a man to fracture his penis, as happened to on-
screen Consultant Mark Sloan (aka
McSteamy, played by Eric Dane) when he had sex in the
on-call
room with intern Lexie Grey (played by Chyler Leigh). The
episode in question was
Season 5 Episode 13, "Stairway to Heaven".
The answer, is yes it is possible for a man to fracture his
penis, although it is rare (Jagodič,
Erklavec et al,
2007).
"Penile fracture" occurs when an erect and rigid penis
suffers a blunt trauma; it is primarily a
rupture of the
tunica albuginea, the fibrous tissue that envelopes the corpus cavernosum, the
part of the penis that swells with blood to
make an erection. The blood then leaks into the
surrounding
parts of the penis, causing bruising, abnormal swelling and
loss of erection.
The rupture can also affect the urethra and the corpus
spongiosum, a firm spongy tissue that
sheaths the urethra and
stops it closing during ejaculation.
The tunica albuginea is a very strong fascia tissue: its job
is to encase and protect, rather like
the fascia that encloses
our whole body from head to toe. Unfortunately it is at its
most
vulnerable when the penis is erect, because it stretches
and thins, sometimes to one tenth of its
normal thickness.
The injury usually occurs during sexual intercourse, although
it can also happen at other times.
It is accompanied by a
sound of cracking or popping, followed by intense pain and
swelling
that distorts the shape of the penis, making it very
difficult if not impossible to urinate.
Sometimes just one
side of the penis is affected, sometimes both.
Treatment usually comprises ice packs, anti-inflammatories
and painkillers, and it often
requires surgery to repair the
tear.
Coco Ballantyne of Scientific American spoke to Hunter
Wessells, chair of the urology
department at the University of
Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, about the
condition.
The hospital he works at also happens to be the setting for Grey's Anatomy.
He said penile fracture most often occurs when the man
attempts to penetrate the "normal
location" but instead
encounters a more solid surface, for instance the perineum. It
can also
happen during intercourse when the woman is on top,
or during "sexual acrobatics", and he
recounts the case of a
patient that was admitted with penile fracture after trying to
penetrate
his wife with a "flying leap".
Wessells said if surgery is required to repair the tear, the
patient has a general anasthetic and
the surgeon cuts the skin
of the penis, finds the edge of the tear and closes it up with
sutures.
Sometimes the tears are extensive and need about 10 stitches he said. The procedure takes
about an hour and the
patient can usually resume a normal sex life after a month or
so.
Wessells said he has seen a few dozen cases in 20 years of
practice, and at the University of
Seattle they have about 2
cases a month, so it is not very common.
However, the risk of incurring penile fracture is not
confined to sexual intercourse. A man
could fall downstairs
and suffer penile fracture if he was erect at the time and
landed on his
penis, explained Dr Darius Paduch during an
interview with ABCNews.com. Paduch is a
urologist at New York
Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center and has treated
multiple
penile fractures.
Paduch said he had treated an American football player who
suffered a penile fracture during
a game: his penis was erect
when it collided with great force into the helmet of another
player.
"A case of penile fracture with complete urethral
disruption during sexual intercourse: a case report."
Klemen Jagodič, Marko Erklavec, Igor Bizjak, Sandi Poteko,
and Helena Korošec Jagodič.J
Med Case Reports. 2007; 1: 14. Published online 2007 May 2.
doi: 10.1186/1752-1947-1-
14.
|
