Total ablation of the penis after circumcision with electrocautery: a method of management and long-term followup.

John P. Gearhart, Rock JA
Division of Pediatric Urology,
James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute,
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
Baltimore, Maryland.

Four patients who had traumatic loss of the penis were managed after the initial injury with a feminizing genitoplasty. Patient reconstruction ranged from 6 months to 3 years. The technique of feminizing genitoplasty is described. There were no instances of flap necrosis, urinary tract infection or urinary incontinence. Immediate results were considered to be cosmetically satisfactory in all patients. Followup ranged from 8 months to 23 years, with a median of 10.5 years. The long-term results have been particularly gratifying in 2 individuals who have been observed for more than 18 years. Early feminizing genitoplasty offers an excellent method of reconstruction of the external genitalia in the child with traumatic loss of the penis who is assigned a female sex of rearing.

[CIRP Note: Feminizing genitoplasty has been discredited as a viable method of managing penile loss due to circumcision. See Sex Reassignment at Birth: A Long Term Review and Clinical Implications for more information.]