The Ventral V-plasty: a simple procedure for the reconstruction of a congenital megaprepuce

Surgical correction of congenital megaprepuce: a pilot study

OBJECTIVE

Congenital megaprepuce (CMP) is a rare penile deformity that usually requires surgical correction. This study was performed to examine the efficacy of the modified Sugita procedure for repairing CMP in pediatric patients.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of pediatric patients with CMP treated by a surgeon using the modified Sugita procedure in our hospital from January 2019 to April 2021.

RESULTS

Twenty patients were enrolled, and their median age at surgery was 70.5 months (range, 60-96 months). All surgeries were successful, and no complications occurred during the operation. The postoperative foreskin had moderate edema in five patients, and soaking in 10% hypertonic saline resulted in disappearance of the edema within 4 to 8 weeks. The follow-up duration was 6 to 20 months (median, 10 months). No other complications occurred, such as dehiscence or hematoma.

CONCLUSIONS

The modified Sugita procedure for correction of CMP produces excellent cosmesis and a low complication rate. Our study indicates that the modified Sugita procedure is a safe and feasible treatment option.

Preputioplasty as a surgical alternative in treatment of phimosis

Preputioplasty denotes various surgical techniques directed at resolving phimosis without the need for radical or partial circumcision. This narrative review summarizes the best-known surgical techniques of preputioplasty. A MEDLINE and EMBASE-based literature search of original manuscripts and case reports published in English has been carried out using the following key words: “circumcision”, “partial circumcision”, “phimosis”, “paraphimosis”, and “preputioplasty”. Six different procedures are explored in more detail and illustrated. The complication rates of all surgical procedures presented here are reported to be low. In cases of medical (rather than cultural and religious) indications, foreskin-preserving procedures present useful alternatives to circumcision in the routine clinical practice of urologists and pediatric surgeons.

Coronal sulcus–based ventral mucosal flap to help penile coverage in severe concealed penis

Introduction

There are many techniques to treat congenital concealed penis (CP). Skin resurfacing is the most difficult step in severe cases. We aim to show medium-term results of coronal sulcus–based triangular ventral mucosal flap (CBVMF) as a treatment of prepubertal severe CP, a recently reported technique. We aim to determine whether results are durable and if the technique is associated with persistent mucosal redundancy or with a permanent unequal penile color pattern.

Methods

CP cases reconstructed with CBVMF were reviewed. Preoperative complaints, degree of motivation of the child/parent to surgery, satisfaction of parent/child with results, and surgical complications were described.

Results

Seven patients (6 months to 6 years old) were treated with CBVMP. Two patients showed megaprepuce and another was submitted to a limited postectomy 3 years before. One family was not fully satisfied (expected “bigger penis”), but acknowledged that the penis was now well exposed. No child talked about the problem preoperatively, but all of the boys were fully satisfied with the results of the surgery and verbalized this in the interviews. Flap edema resolved after 3 months in all but one patient. The flaps assumed the color of penile skin in the medium term.

Conclusions

CBMVP results were satisfactory. Serious complications did not occur. Flap edema does not persist in the medium term, and redundancy was not a problem. The color of the flap tended to evolve into a pattern similar to the penile skin.

Megaprepuce: a systematic review of a rare condition with a controversial surgical management

Megaprepuce (MP) is a rare and challenging condition characterised by an excessive inner prepuce, paucity of penile skin and an extremely narrow phimotic ring. The aetiological factors leading to its development are poorly understood. A variety of surgical techniques have been described in the last 26 years mostly with small number of patients and short follow-up. It is also highly likely that some series have in the past included different variants of inconspicuous penis combining concealed penis, MP and webbed penis. This article is a systematic review of the literature on Megaprepuce; in particular the embryology, history, aetiology, and the surgical techniques available for the correction of this unique penile anomaly will be presented and discussed in this study.

Megaprepuce: A New Surgical Technique with Excellent Cosmetic and Functional Results

Background: Congenital megaprepuce (CMP) is a malformation consisting of redundant inner foreskin, normal penile shaft, and severe phimosis. The excess inner prepuce pushes the penile shaft deeper causing the appearance of a buried penis. We describe a novel surgical technique using dartos fascial flaps to reconstruct the prepuce giving excellent cosmetic and functional results. Patients and Methods: Penile reconstruction was performed by a single surgeon in 07 cases of CMP between January 2018 and December 2019. In all cases, the described surgical technique was used. Following surgery, cosmetic and functional outcomes were reviewed as well as the incidence of complications. The patients' ages ranged from 15 to 27 months (mean = 19). Mean hospital stay was 9 hours (range = 7-12). Operating time was between 50 and 85 minutes. Results: Postoperative appearance of the penis was satisfactory for all the parents in our group. Swelling of the penile shaft was seen in all of our patients but settled within one week of surgery. Scrotal hematoma was seen in only one of our patients, but that also did not need any intervention and settled spontaneously. During the follow-up period (mean = 14.5 months, range 6-24) no patient underwent revision surgery. In all our patients, the final appearance was of a circumcised penis. The final similarity to a normal circumcised penis was excellent in all of our patients. Correction of penoscrotal transposition was done in all patients achieving an elongated penile shaft and almost invisible postoperative scarring. Conclusion: Our modified surgical procedure to correct CMP is a safe and simple technique, providing good cosmetic results with the appearance of a standard circumcised penis. This also provides a good functional outcome with complication rate quite low. This technique is also easy to reproduce and teach compared with other complex procedures.

Megaprepuce: presentation of a modified surgical technique with excellent cosmetic and functional results

OBJECTIVE

Congenital megaprepuce is a malformation consisting of a great redundancy of the inner preputial skin over a penis with normal shaft and glans and is combined with a severe phimosis. Patients suffer from difficulties in voiding because the urine is trapped in the large dome-shaped megaprepuce. We describe a modification of the surgical technique of reconstructing a megaprepuce initially presented by Leao et al.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed 7 patients aged 6-53 months (mean age 17 months, 6 were younger than 18 months) who underwent congenital megaprepuce repair between 02/2014 and 05/2018 in our institution. All these otherwise healthy children suffering from difficulties in voiding and reporting genital ballooning during micturition and urinary retention were referred to our hospital. In all cases, parents needed to express the trapped urine. Four of these patients additionally showed a glanular hypospadias, another one a distal penile hypospadias. In addition to the repair of the megaprepuce, six patients needed correction of a penile curvature, five of whom needed correction of the chordee and one a corporoplasty (Schröder-Essed). The patient showing the distal penile hypospadias additionally underwent hypospadias repair. During the follow-up, we evaluated the cosmetic result and complications such as secondary concealed penis, difficulties in voiding, urinary retention, and urinary infections.

RESULTS

Mean follow-up was 18 months. All patients following surgery showed normal voiding without urinary retention or urinary infections and good cosmetic results resembling a circumcised penis in appearance without reconcealment. No intraoperative complications occurred. One patient had a scrotal hematoma postoperatively. Mild transient edema of the penis was seen in all patients, which disappeared spontaneously within one week after surgery.

CONCLUSION

Our surgical approach is a safe and relatively simple procedure with a low rate of complications, good cosmetic results, and functional outcome. Whether the hypospadias associated with ventral curvature was a coincidence or part of the disease pattern remains unclear but will probably be the object of further investigations.

Congenital Megaprepuce: Literature Review and Surgical Correction

Congenital megaprepuce (CMP) is a type of buried penis characterized by extensive redundancy and ballooning of the inner prepuce as a result of preputial stenosis and phimosis. The malformation typically presents with difficulty voiding, often requiring manual expression of stagnant urine. Multiple techniques have been reported for the treatment of CMP with varying levels of positive outcomes. The authors provide a review of published literature, in addition to describing the procedure and results of our surgical technique in three children aged eleven months, two years, and twelve years. The literature review was conducted using PubMed with keywords “congenital megaprepuce,” “megaprepuce,” “buried penis,” “CMP,” and “correction.” Results were then differentiated based on presence or absence of true congenital megaprepuce and the surgical correction thereof. Regarding our cases, all patients completed the procedure with excellent cosmesis and without complication. Our technique is shown to provide consistent, excellent esthetic outcome across a wide range of ages and may be replicated by others.

Mid- to long-term outcomes of the 'anatomical approach' to congenital megaprepuce repair

INTRODUCTION

The understanding of the aetiopathogenesis and the long-term outcomes of correctional repair of congenital megaprepuce (CMP) remains unestablished. Different techniques have been described; however, optimum results have been difficult to achieve.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of our study was to review our experience of the 'anatomical approach' to the correction of CMP.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This is a retrospective review of boys who underwent CMP repair between 2003 and 2014. All of them had the anatomical approach: A curved incision is made between the scrotal and penile skin. Circumferential dissection superficial to Buck's fascia frees the penis and allows the scrotum to assume a more caudal position. The dissection distally lifts the preputial sac that is opened ventrally. The redundant inner preputial skin is excised. After full degloving, the dorsal flap of skin is thinned. The base of the flap is anchored, and the rectangle of skin is wrapped around the shaft. The remaining diamond-shaped incision is closed in a vertical line. Postoperatively, foam dressings and urethral catheter are left in place. Symptomatology, hospital stay, postoperative complications, redosurgery, voiding and cosmesis were evaluated.

RESULTS

Sixty-one patients had surgery at 5-151 months (median 17 months). Median hospital stay was 24 h (12-168 h). Foam dressings and urethral catheter were used in 47 boys and removed in outpatient clinic after 3-7 days. There were two immediate postoperative complications requiring surgery. One due to severe oedema and constriction ring, and the other had wound infection with wound breakdown, both in patients with no dressings (P < 0.05). Follow-up was available for 58 patients, with a median of 22 months (3-79 months). Two required redosurgery (3.5%), one with poor cosmetic result and one recurrence. In all patients, a normal circumcised appearance had been achieved and in 47, cosmetic result was excellent (81%). Five patients have residual suprapubic fat, and four, excess ventral skin. One with residual suprapubic fat has reached puberty and it has resolved. All declared good stream. The same technique was used for six patients with poor cosmetic result after surgery elsewhere. The outcome is excellent for all, with median follow-up of 20.5 months (5-31 months).

CONCLUSION

The 'anatomical' repair provides the ability to create the appearance of a standard circumcision, which is generally accepted as normality. Apart from the penis itself, this technique facilitates correction of the penoscrotal transposition, giving the external genitalia the best appearance. It seems to provide good functional and cosmetic outcomes, and it holds true at mid- to long-term follow-up. Dressings and catheter can potentially prevent postoperative complications. However, a prospective study with standardised parameters is required to confirm these findings.

Megaprepuce Reconstruction: A Single Center Experience

INTRODUCTION

Surgical treatment of congenital megaprepuce is challenging and controversial. We report our 10-year experience treating patients with this deformity using a standardized procedure that has similarities to a technique reported by Smeulders et al. (1). Our postoperative complications and mid-term follow-up cosmetic appearance of the genitalia after reconstruction are reviewed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Fifteen patients operated on between 2005 and 2015 were evaluated. Age at surgical repair ranged from 3 to 20 months (mean 9). Treatment included unfolding the preputial sac via a ventral approach, excision of redundant inner preputial skin, and ventral skin coverage with the outer preputial layer. Twelve patients presented associated partial scrotal engulfment, which was simultaneously treated. Mean follow-up was 4.6 years (range 2-7 years).

RESULTS

Short-term complications occurred in three patients: scrotal hematoma in one patient and small skin dehiscence at the penoscrotal junction in two patients. Skin disruption healed by secondary epithelial ingrowth. All cases resulted in a satisfactory genital cosmetic outcome. There were no late complications. All patients preserved normal external genitalia appearance.

CONCLUSION

Our experience is in agreement with reports of other authors; suggesting that excision of the inner preputial layer and using the external one for penile coverage provide good and durable mid-term esthetic results in megaprepuce reconstruction.

Severe forms of concealed penis without hypospadias: Surgical strategies

Introduction:

Concealed penis (CP) may vary in severity and includes megaprepuce (MP) as a variant. Many different surgical strategies have been described in order to maximize penile exposure and to deal with skin deficiency. We describe the strategies that we use to overcome technical problems in severe cases of CP.

Materials and Methods:

Six consecutive cases of severe CP (including 3 with MP) were treated in a 2-year period between January 2011 and April 2013. These patients were treated using extensive degloving, removal of dysplastic dartos, Alexander's preputial flap, scrotal flaps and skin grafts. Three patients had been previously circumcised. Cases associated with hypospadias, obesity, disorders of sexual differentiation and micropenises were excluded.

Results:

All six patients attained good results, with good exposure of the penis, ability to void standing with a well-directed flow and reasonable esthetic results. A technical algorithm for the treatment of primary or recurring cases of CP is proposed.

Conclusion:

Alexander’ s distally based ventral preputial flap is a useful technical resource to treat MP cases. Free skin grafts and/or laterally based scrotal flaps may be used to cover the penis after release in severe cases of CP.

A single surgeon's experience of 65 cases of penoplasty for congenital megaprepuce, with special reference to mid- to long-term follow-up

PURPOSE

There are few reports about postoperative outcome of penoplasty (PP). We present the results of mid- to long-term follow-up of PP performed for congenital megaprepuce (CMP).

METHODS

Data from 65 CMP cases treated by PP performed by a single surgeon from 2000 to 2014 were collected prospectively. All cases were treated using the technique reported by Cuckow (Pediatric surgery. Springer, Berlin, pp 543-554, 2006).

RESULTS

Mean age at PP was 5.9 years (range 0.4-13.9). All cases presented as infants and some 12 cases (18.5 %) had PP when 10 or more years old. There were no intra- and postoperative complications. Mean duration of follow-up was 3.6 years (range 0.1-17.5). Duration of follow-up was 4 years or less in 48 (73.8 %), 5-9 years in 13 (20.0 %), and 10 or more years in 4 (6.2 %). While postoperative penile cosmesis was good in 63/65 (96.9 %) cases without scrotal deformity, 2/65 (3.1 %) had redundant penile skin excised upon the recommendation of the treating surgeon even though the patients and parents were unconcerned.

CONCLUSION

Mid- to long-term follow-up of our PP cases shows that outcome is cosmetically acceptable and stable.

Buried penis: classification surgical approach

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to describe morphological classification of congenital buried penis (BP) and present a versatile surgical approach for correction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sixty-one patients referred with BP were classified into 3 grades according to morphological findings: Grade 1-29 patients with Longer Inner Prepuce (LIP) only, Grade II-20 patients who presented with LIP associated with indrawn penis that required division of the fundiform and suspensory ligaments, and Grade III-12 patients who had in addition to the above, excess supra-pubic fat.

OPERATIVE APPROACH

A ventral midline penile incision extending from the tip of prepuce down to the penoscrotal junction was used in all patients. The operation was tailored according to the BP Grade. All patients underwent circumcision. Mean follow up was 3 years (range 1 to 10).

RESULTS

All 61 patients had an abnormally long inner prepuce (LIP). Forty-seven patients had a short penile shaft. Early improvement was noted in all cases. Satisfactory results were achieved in all 29 patients in grade I and in 27 patients in grades II and III. Five children (Grades II and III) required further surgery (9%).

CONCLUSIONS

Congenital buried penis is a spectrum characterized by LIP and may include in addition; short penile shaft, abnormal attachment of fundiform, and suspensory ligaments and excess supra-pubic fat. Congenital Mega Prepuce (CMP) is a variant of Grade I BP, with LIP characterized by intermittent ballooning of the genital area.

Congenital megaprepuce: a 12-year experience (52 cases) of this specific form of buried penis

OBJECTIVE

Congenital megaprepuce is a specific form of buried penis. Children affected by this malformation usually suffer from a subjective difficulty in voiding which is the main indication for early surgical correction. The aim of this study was to report a single center's 12-year experience in the treatment of megaprepuce in children, describing the surgical procedure we used to treat it and the results.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the charts of all children who underwent congenital megaprepuce repair between January 1999 and August 2011 in our institution. Fifty-two children were operated during the study period. Our single surgical technique, not an original one, consists of fixing the penile shaft at the base of the penis, and widely reducing the inner prepuce.

RESULTS

Four children (8%) underwent revision surgery but according to our criteria a very good result was observed in only 23 patients, and a less good but still acceptable result in 25 patients.

CONCLUSION

Our 12-year experience in the surgical treatment of congenital megaprepuce demonstrated satisfying results from a safe and simple surgical technique, but to achieve the optimum result remains difficult.