Penis fracture: Is it possible?

There are many inconveniences that the manhood may have to endure, from nasty infections to more serious diseases. What is more, experts warn that even though the penis contains no actual bone, it might in some cases get ‘fractured.

altThe male organ, the penis, is one part of men’s body that is highly treasured, yet it sometimes has to endure many inconveniences from nasty infections to more serious diseases. Although there is no bone in it yet, it can break all the same during an aggressive sexual act, masturbation or some unfortunate accident.

It is called penile fracture and it is not a subtle injury. When it happens, there is “an audible pop or snap”. Then the penis turns black and blue. And there is terrible pain. Although penile fracture is rare, it typically happens to younger men because their erections tend to be quite rigid.

It is common knowledge that irritations, soreness or swellings of the penis are likely to occur because of friction due to excessive penetrative or oral sex, but the penis can also “fracture” when there is an injury to the erect penis.

Men can hurt their manhood in differs ways. For instance, the erection men get in the mornings, soon after waking up, is usually quite strong and hard. If, at this point, they happen to fall or bang into an object, it can cause severe tissue damage. This is accompanied by bruising, discomfort, pain and a growing ache.

A common way of masturbation is by rubbing the erect penis on the bed or against a hard surface. If done too aggressively, it could end up being hurtful.

Adventurous stunts in the bedroom can be a lot of fun, but when a man is not paying close attention to locating the vaginal entry because of the excitement, sex could be brought to a painful halt. Even the most experienced men can have a hard time locating the vaginal entry, and an excited pounce could land on the hard pelvic bone. This usually results in a fracture.

Extramarital affairs will not only cause broken hearts, but can also end up breaking penises. The heightened risk of penile fractures is especially possible in extramarital affairs due to the unconventional situations, and consequently, locations surrounding sexual acts.

In such unusual situation, sex may be rushed and involve unusual or awkward sexual positions. It could be in unusual settings, including restrooms or at work. All these factors could make the man less able to protect his penis from an unexpected sudden downward thrust leading to the fracture.

Fracture of the erect penis can also be caused by a spouse scorned, with intent on revenge, assault, a fall from bed during intercourse or during REM (rapid and eye movement) sleep. It also can occur due to self-inflicted mutilation in psychiatric patients or as a result of an accidental fall over an erect penis.

How common is penile fracture, and who is most likely to suffer from it? Several incidents of penile fracture had been recorded and treated in hospitals all over Nigeria as far back as 1998.

A case of a 37-year-old veterinary surgeon who sustained right-sided fracture of the base of the penis during masturbation was treated at the Jos University Teaching Hospital. The case was published in the 1998 edition of the Central African Journal of Medicine by Professor B. T. Ugwu from the Department of Surgery, Jos University Teaching Hospital.

Two other men were also treated at the hospital for penile fracture and documented in the 2009 edition of the Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice by Professor Ugwu’s group. One was a 41-year-old unemployed tailor, a bachelor, with a painful, right sided swelling and deformity of his penis following masturbation. The other case was a 35-year-old civil engineer who sustained a painful, deformed penis with blood at the tip of the penis during consensual intercourse with his wife on top.

However, innumerable cases of penile fracture in hospitals such as Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Complex, Ile-Ife, Osun State, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH), Osogbo, Osun State had also been documented.

Penile fracture cuts across different social strata as typified in the case of an 18-year old rural man who sustained a penile fracture, presumably from entrapment of his penis in the African bamboo bed during nocturnal penile tumescence.

The incident, which was documented by Obi Anselm and O. Okechukwu and published in the 2010 edition of the African Journal of Urology,  thus prompting these surgeons  to warned against using the African bamboo bed without a mattress because it might lead to penile entrapment and fracture.

What is more, Badmus T.A, Adesunkanmi A.R and Ogunrombi A.O at the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, further corroborated the incidence of penile fracture in healthy sexually active men. They treated a 30-year-old undergraduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife who suffered stuttering priapism (a persistent, usually painful, erection of the penis unrelated to sexual stimulation or desire) for about a week and developed penile fracture while forcefully packing the erect organ.

Three cases of young men whose ages range between 22 and 32 years and who presented at 1 year 6 months, four weeks, and three hours respectively, following penile fracture were  treated at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo by A.O Aderounmu, A.A Salako, S.A Olatoke, A.K Eziyi, O Agodinrin, all at the Department of Surgery of the hospital. It was published in the 2004 edition of the West African Journal of Medicine.

In many communities, injury to the penis is still shrouded in secrecy. According to Dr Augustine Takure, a consultant urologist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, where penile fracture occurs, men involved are shy and they do not come to the hospital because of the circumstances that led to the penile injury.

Dr Takure, who declared that penile fracture or injury could occur during aggressive sexual intercourse and inappropriate positions during sexual intercourse or through ritual killings or communal clashes, stated that “a man can break his penis and we call it penile fracture. It does not have bone, but you can break or fracture it because it is a rigid structure.”

Dr Takure stated that during an erection, the penis is engorged with blood. If the penis is bent suddenly or forcefully while it is engorged, the injury may rupture the lining of one of the two cylinders in the penis (corpus cavernosum) responsible for erections — resulting in a penis fracture.

A penis fracture requires urgent medical attention. A penis fracture if left untreated may result in deformity of the penis or the inability to have or maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction).

Dr Takure stated that the treatment to be given will however be determined by the part of the penis that is injured. According to him, just as the skin that is responsible for the erection can be damaged, so also is the pipe that conducts urine from the bladder to the exterior (urethra). But where there was a penile fracture, it can be repaired by surgical operation. The surgical operation is safe and will in no way affect their subsequent ability to achieve erection, he assured.

Source:tribune