CONGENITAL AND ACQUIRED CURVATURE OF THE PENIS TREATED SURGICALLY BY PLICATION OF THE TUNICA ALBUGINEA

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of plication surgery for patie nts with congenital and acquired curvature of the penis. Patients and methods Forty-eight patients with congenital curvature of the penis an d 57 with induratio plastica were treated by plication of the tunica a lbuginea. The average age was 23 and 56 years, respectively. The opera tion was performed under local anaesthesia, using 2/0 Prolene and a sp ecially designed suture. The average observation time in the two group s was 24 and 20 months, respectively. Results Nineteen per cent of pat ients in the first group and 8% in the second group reported normal in tercourse pre-operatively. Post-operatively, the numbers increased to 81% and 82%, respectively, and all were able to perform intercourse. A lthough 18-19% experienced slight discomfort, mostly related to the cu t ends of the suture, this minor problem was accepted by all. Five pat ients needed more than one operation. No impotence was recorded post-o peratively and no patient complained of reduced sensibility of the ski n. Conclusion Satisfactory results were obtained with the plication te chnique in the first 105 patients. Since the follow-up study was compl eted more than 2 years ago, another 70 patients have been treated by t he same procedure.