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MARIA SERGIO

Penile Length Assessment of Children Treated for Primary Buried Penis: Can Satisfying Penile Growth Always Be Achieved?

  • Authors: Marco Pensabene ; Maria Sergio; Fabio Baldanza; Francesco Grasso; Gregorio Serra ; Benedetto Spataro ; Roberta Bonfiglio ; Maria Patti ; Valentina Maggiore ;Chiara Cambiaso ; Mario Giuffré ; Giovanni Corsello ; Marcello Cimador ; Maria Rita Di Pace
  • Publication year: 2023
  • Type: Articolo in rivista
  • OA Link: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/604333

Abstract

Primary buried (BP) penis is describes as a small penis caused by a penile ligaments anomaly; it is unclear if a primary BP could reach a normal length. We selected 49 patients treated at our institution between 2015 and 2020 in order to post-operatively evaluate the SPL after one year. SPL was evaluated according to the PH Tanner staging system for pre-pubertal patients according to age-normalized values. A micropenis was detected if the SPL was below 2.5 SD. A normal SPL was found in thirty-two patients, eighteen were in PH Stage 1, four were in PH Stage 2, six were in PH Stage 3, and four were in PH Stage 5. Seventeen patients showed a reduced SPL; in seven of these (four in PH Stage 4 and three in PH Stage 5), their SPL was <2.5 ST. The difference in micropenis prevalence between the pre-pubertal and post-pubertal patients was significant (p = 0.038). A primary BP grows normally during the pre-pubertal period, where patients frequently showed a normal SPL, but it seems to be unable to reach a normal length in the higher PH stages, where the SPL is used to detect a micropenis. We suggest that a primary BP should be considered not as a simple defect of the penile ligaments and surrounding tissues, but as an incomplete manifestation of a micropenis due to a growth slowdown of the organ in late puberty.