Doctors have reported what has been called the first documented case of a vertical penis fracture.
The case report, published in the British Medical Journal on June 10, details how a 40-year-old man injured his penis during sex.
The report's authors say the man sustained the injury when his penis "buckled" against his partner's perineum—the area between the anus and the genitals.
The report notes that penile fractures usually occur when there is an excessive bending of the penis, which leads to an increase in internal pressures. This can result in a tear.
The vast majority of these injuries occur during sex, with the case report citing one study that found that the "'doggy style' and 'man on top'" positions were the two main causes.
A penis fracture is not a fracture in the typical sense since there are no bones in the penis.
Instead, a penis fracture may refer to a tear along the tunica albuginea, a sheath that wraps together the three main tubes inside the penis.
These tubes are the two corpora cavernosa, which fill with blood during an erection, and the urethra, which acts as a channel for both urine and semen.
When men report a penis fracture, they tend to describe a popping sensation, immediate loss of erection, and significant swelling and bruising.
However, in the case of the man whose penis fractured vertically, doctors said he reported no popping sensation, a gradual loss of erection, and moderate swelling.
Following an MRI scan, a surgeon confirmed the man had suffered a 3 cm (a little over an inch) vertical tear in his penis.
The case report authored by U.K. National Health Service (NHS) doctor Sam Hughes and others states that a literature review into other studies documenting penis fractures found they all described fractures as being transverse, not vertical.
The case study reads: "Not only does this highlight the rarity of this case, but it also raises the question: Does a vertical penile fracture pattern alter either the presentation or long-term outcomes following operative repair?"
Doctors are monitoring the patient's recovery to compare it to other documented cases.
However, they note that six months on from the injury the patient was able to continue having sex again and that he was able to achieve an erection as well as he could before. The case report did not give any details on the medical treatment the patient received.
According to the Urology Care Foundation, surgery for a penis fracture caused by sex involves surgeons repairing any tears in the tunica albuginea. The penis is then bandaged up to allow it time to heal, and a catheter may be placed through the urethra to drain urine.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
