ELECTROSURGERY FOR ROUTINE PEDIATRIC PENILE PROCEDURES

Purpose: Traditional teaching in urology has been to avoid electrosurg ical devices in penile surgical procedures. In the last several years cutting current has been routinely used on the penis for making skin i ncisions, degloving, creating Byars flaps and destroying skin bridges. The purpose of this study was to determine the complications and fina l outcomes of electrosurgery. Materials and Methods: A 5-year retrospe ctive chart review was done to determine the complications and final o utcomes of exclusively using electrical current to perform pediatric p enile procedures. Results: Electrosurgery was used to perform the enti re surgical dissection in 346 patients, including circumcision in 124, repeat circumcision in 68, penoscrotal fusion/chordee repair in 127 a nd skin bridge procedures in 27. All patients had a satisfactory cosme tic result. After correction of penoscrotal fusion, separation at the scrotal suture line in 2 patients healed secondarily without sequelae. There was no hematoma, tissue necrosis or skin sloughing and all surg ery was performed on an outpatient basis. Conclusions: Electrosurgery can be used safely and effectively for routine penile procedures, prov iding a bloodless operative field and excellent cosmetic results.