A NEW REPAIR TECHNIQUE FOR PENILE PARAFFINOMA - BILATERAL SCROTAL FLAPS

Although worldwide incidence is not well known, foreign-body injection is often attempted in order to increase the circumference of the peni le shaft. Paraffin, Vaseline, and other materials are injected into th e penile skin by the patient himself or by untrained persons who pract ice medicine fraudulently. Complications usually follow, such as penil e deformity, skin necrosis, limited erectile function, and the inabili ty to have intercourse. Definitive treatment of these patients include s the complete removal of skin and subcutaneous tissue infiltrated by the foreign material. Sometimes, complete removal of the foreign mater ial may not be possible and may leave permanent foreign-body granuloma on the corpus cavernosum and/or corpus spongiosum. The remaining fore ign material does not permit skin-graft coverage, which is a simple an d effective method of resurfacing. In such cases, we tried a new techn ique comprised of bilateral scrotal flaps to provide for reliable and stable coverage. The scrotal skin, which has high elasticity, seems to be a good material for penile coverage, despite its hairy nature. In our experience, exclusively with Korean males, the scrotal hair has a low density and does not seem to cause serious problems, but patients with hirsute scrota may be contraindicated. Since 1993, 17 patients wi th penile paraffinoma have been treated using the bilateral scrotal fl ap method. All 34 flaps survived completely and the reconstructed peni s had immediate postoperative tactile sensibility. The results were su ccessful and without any major complications.