Congenital penile curvature presenting as unconsummated marriage. Repair by 16-dot plication with subjectively reported patient and partner satisfaction

Unconsummated marriage: a systematic review of etiological factors and clinical management

BACKGROUND

Unconsummated marriage (UCM) is the inability of the heterosexual married couple to have penovaginal sexual intercourse.

AIM

The study sought to systematically review current evidence regarding the etiological factors and clinical management of UCM.

METHODS

A comprehensive bibliographic search on the MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases was performed in June 2023. Studies were selected if they described married couples who never had sexual intercourse in case report or case series evaluating the related causes and/or management and reporting data with qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. The review was reported according to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses) statement and registered in PROSPERO with ID CRD42023433040.

RESULTS

A total of 27 studies including 1638 males and 1587 females were selected. Eight (29.6%) articles were case reports involving a single couple and 19 (70.4%) studies were case series. Mean Murad score was 4.1 (range, 1-8) showing low-intermediate overall study quality. All articles had a level of evidence of 4. Most of studies were conducted in Egypt (n = 5 [18.4%]), Israel (n = 4 [14.9%]), and the United States (n = 4 [14.9%]). The mean age of males and females varied between 24.2 and 37.6 years and from 21 to 27.4 years, respectively. The reasons for the medical visit that led to the diagnosis of UCM were inability to consummate in 23 (85.2%) studies, inability to conceive in 1 (3.7%) article, and mixed in 3 (11.1%) articles. The mean duration of UCM varied from 7 days to 3.5 years. Eight studies involving both men and women showed that vaginismus (8.4%-81%) and erectile dysfunction (10.5%-61%) were the most common causes of UCM. Three articles reported that 16.6% to 26% of all UCM cases were due to both male and female factors. Sildenafil, tadalafil, intracavernosal injection, penile plication, female genital reconstructive surgery, vaginal dilators, lubricants, psychosexual therapy, and sex education were the various treatment modalities in 27 studies to achieve consummation rate of 66.6% to 100%.

STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS

A strength is that this is the first systematic review covering the entire spectrum of UCM. Limitations comprised the low quality of most of the included articles and the large percentage of UCM cases probably not published.

CONCLUSION

Erectile dysfunction and vaginismus are the most reported causes of UCM; however, a strong psychological component certainly underlies a significant number of cases. A multidisciplinary approach based on strategic integration of sex education, medical therapy, psychosexual support, and surgical treatment would seem the most suitable option to manage couples with UCM.

Surgical Correction of Adult Congenital Penile Curvature: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Congenital penile curvature (CPC) is corrected surgically by various corporoplasty or tunica albuginea plication techniques, but the optimal surgical approach is not well-defined.

AIM

To provide a comprehensive evaluation of the published literature pertaining to outcomes with penile plication and corporoplasty techniques for surgical management of CPC. To determine if plication or corporoplasty offers superior outcomes in surgical correction of CPC.

METHODS

A systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Checklist. The following databases were queried from inception to March 18, 2020 to search for studies describing surgical treatment of CPC: Ovid MEDLINE(R) and Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations and Daily, Ovid Embase, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus.

OUTCOMES

Objective and subjective postoperative outcomes including penile straightening, shortening, penile sensory changes, and reoperation rates for both corporoplasty and tunica albuginea plication were summarized.

RESULTS

Fifty-five articles comprising 2,956 patients with CPC who underwent a plication procedure (n = 1,375) or corporoplasty (n = 1,580) were included. The definition of "treatment success" varied widely and most often involved subjective patient reporting (22 studies; 40%) or objective assessment (15 studies; 27%). We considered curvature correction to be satisfactory if there was self-reported patient satisfaction or residual curvature after correction of <20˚. Reported rates of successful straightening ranged from 75 to 100% and 73 to 100% for plication and corporoplasty, respectively. A comprehensive and accurate assessment of surgical outcomes for CPC correction, such as satisfactory penile straightening, reoperation rates, glans sensory changes, and other complications was limited by significant inter-study heterogeneity with respect to the reporting of treatment outcomes.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

While both plication and corporoplasty appear to be safe and effective options in the treatment of CPC, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn with respect to treatment superiority due to low-quality study design, methodology flaws, and significant heterogeneity in reporting.

STRENGTH & LIMITATIONS

This report represents the most comprehensive review of CPC surgical management. However, there is a significant lack of standardization in the reporting of treatment outcomes for CPC, thereby limiting the reliability of the published data summarization encompassed by our review.

CONCLUSION

Both plication and corporoplasty demonstrate high success rates and relatively low complication rates in the treatment of CPC, albeit with low-level evidence available in most research publications. Robust comparison of the surgical techniques used to correct CPC is limited by significant variation in reporting methods used in the literature. C. J. Britton, F. A. Jefferson, B. L. Findlay, et al. Surgical Correction of Adult Congenital Penile Curvature: A Systematic Review. J Sex Med 2022;19:364-376.

Current trends in the surgical treatment of congenital penile curvature

Congenital penile curvature (CPC) is a relatively uncommon condition, characterized by congenital angulation of the erect penis. Surgical correction of CPC is the gold standard therapy with a variety of proposed surgical techniques and modifications. This review summarizes the contemporary literature on the surgical management of CPC, trying to address the current trends, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of available methods. We performed a non-systematic narrative and interpretative literature review until December 2018. We included articles with isolated CPC in human adults. We excluded original research articles regarding the surgical treatment of Peyronie's disease (PD). In total, we identified 34 studies including 2155 patients with CPC that met our inclusion criteria. Nine studies included patients with both CPC and PD, but reported sufficient data regarding the CPC cohort. Excisional corporoplasty and incisionless plication seemed to be the preferred surgical methods (10 and 12 studies, respectively), followed by incisional corporoplasty (5) and grafting (3). Four studies reported results of more than one method. Overall, patients with CPC can expect excellent outcomes with surgical repair and minimal side effects. No definite conclusions can be made regarding which technique is superior. The widely varied outcomes highlight the need for standardized outcomes measures in future research.

Clinical characteristics and surgical outcomes in men undergoing tunica albuginea plication for congenital penile curvature who present with worsening penile deformity

PURPOSE

Men with congenital penile curvature (CPC) can develop new onset worsening of their lifelong curvature. We sought to evaluate clinical characteristics and postoperative outcomes after tunica albuginea plication (TAP) in patients presenting with CPC who reported new onset worsened curvature (CPC-WC), and compare these with patients reporting stable lifelong curve ("CPC-only").

METHODS

A retrospective review of demographics, history/exam findings, and postoperative outcomes for patients with CPC who underwent TAP from 2012 to 2018 was performed. Patients were differentiated based on whether or not they reported new onset worsening of their penile curvature preoperatively (CPC-WC versus CPC only). Statistical analysis was performed to identify differences in clinical characteristics and postoperative outcomes after TAP.

RESULTS

60 patients were included [CPC only (n = 39) and CPC-WC (n = 21)]. Mean curvature was 62° (SD 23). CPC-WC patients were older [median 34 years (IQR 27:52) versus 24 years (IQR 20:34); p = 0.004], and more likely to report penile shortening and psychological bother (p < 0.05). On physical examination, CPC-WCs were more likely to have a discrete palpable tunical scar and diminished penile elasticity (p ≤ 0.0002). With median follow up of 12 months, satisfactory straightening with TAP was reported in 56/60 patients (93%) including 35/39 (90%) CPC only and 21/21 (100%) CPC-WC.

CONCLUSIONS

In men undergoing TAP for CPC, we found that 35% reported new onset worsening of their original curvature preoperatively. These patients were older and more likely to report penile shortening or exhibit palpable tunical scarring with decreased elasticity on examination compared to those with lifelong stable curvature. Regardless, TAP resulted in satisfactory penile straightening in the majority of patients.