Two levels vs. one level of phallopexy in the treatment of concealed penis in patients in pediatric age group

Abstract

IntroductionConcealed penis, which is the congenital type of buried penis, is a condition in which a normal-sized penis is totally or partially hidden by pubic, scrotal, or thigh skin. Several procedures had been described for its correction including phallopexy, that is, fixation of penile Buck's fascia to the sub-dermis.Aim of the workOur work aims to study the difference in outcome between performing phallopexy at one level and at two levels.Material and methodsOur study included 180 uncircumcised patients who had a concealed penis while having an average length of an outstretched penis. These patients were divided into two groups: the first one was treated with one level of phallopexy at the 3 and 9 o'clock points, while the second group was treated with the same procedure in addition to another level of stitches at the mid-penile level. The follow-up was carried out for one post-operative year regarding penile skin edema, infection, congestion, necrosis, and/or re-retraction.ResultsThe overall success rate was 96.1% for a normally-looking penis without post-operative re-retraction. Re-retraction developed in two patients (2.2%) of those who had one-level phallopexy and in five patients (5.6%) of those who had two-level phallopexy without statistical significance (FEp = .444). Penile skin edema developed in 76 patients (42.2%) being significantly lower in patients with lower body weight (p = .030*).ConclusionPhallopexy could be performed safely in the case of the concealed penis with satisfactory results. Two levels of phallopexy did not add any advantage to the post-operative results besides the fact that this may be demanding, time-consuming, and may require higher resources, so we recommend the easier one-level phallopexy in the treatment of such conditions with satisfactory results.