In India, a 52-year-old man had his glans removed after the onset of gangrene.
A 52-year-old Indian went to the hospital after an erection lasting more than 48 hours and had to undergo an amputation of the glans after the onset of gangrene. His case was reported in the British Medical Journal.
When he arrives at the hospital in Delhi, India, doctors fit him with a blood flow diversion system to allow blood to flow and his penis to deflate. This technique is the most common for treating long-lasting erections, also called priapism. Doctors also insert a urinary catheter into the urethra and wrap a pressure bandage around the penis. Normally, side effects are few and not dangerous.
A gangrene glans
For this man, things turned out differently. The day after this benign operation, his glans had blackened. The patient was transferred to the urology department of another Indian hospital. They could only see the beginning of gangrene of the penis: the tissues were no longer irrigated by blood and were dead. They first removed the catheter from the urethra and made an incision in the bladder to insert another catheter. This technique reduces the risk of infection, compared to placing a catheter in the urethra.
The day after the operation, doctors found that the glans had darkened further and a line of demarcation had appeared on the skin along the penis. Examinations do not reveal any problem in the blood or in the bladder. The only solution is the amputation of the gangrenous part in order to prevent the problem from spreading: the patient therefore underwent an ablation of the glans. Three weeks after the operation, he is better and his wound is healthy. For the medical team who followed him, the gangrene seems to have been caused by a combination of different factors ranging from the catheter in the urethra to the dressing.
Rare cases
Priapism is a rare condition, defined by a painful erection lasting more than 4 hours. It must be taken care of urgently, because it can have serious consequences, such as gangrene in this specific case. According to data cited by the french association of urologyin the United States, there would be 6.5 cases each year per 100,000 inhabitants.
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