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What is Peyronie's disease?

Peyronie's is a noncancerous condition that occurs when fibrous scar tissue develops on the penis and causes it to bend, curve, and painful erections. You might feel the scar tissue through the skin, or you may have pain in a specific part of the penis as the scar tissue forms. Depending on the scar location, during an erection, the penis can bend up or down or to the side. This condition also causes stress, and anxiety, and Penile shortening.

What are the symptoms of Peyronie's disease?

The symptoms might appear suddenly or develop gradually

  • Curvature in the penis,
  • The penis is shorter,
  • The penis is bent/ curved
  • Loss of girth
  • Lumps in the penis
  • Erections are painful

Penile and urethral preservation surgery limit the amount of tissue removed and increases penile tissue preservation without compromising cancer control. The main goal of penile sparing surgery is to preserve sufficient tissue to allow voiding while standing up and/or sexual performance.

The side effects of the penis and urethral removal surgery are disfigurement and profound negative quality of life, the aim is to avoid these effects too.

What causes Peyronie's disease?

The cause of Peyronie's disease isn't completely understood and there are various factors involved.

It is generally resulting, from a repeated injury to the penis such as, during sexual relations, athletic activity, or accident.

Some health issues are linked to Peyronie's disease. It is not very clear if they cause this condition or they happen along with it.

  • High blood sugar
  • Pelvic trauma
  • Problems with wound healing
  • Tobacco products
  • Certain autoimmune diseases such as lupus, Sjogren's syndrome, and Behcet's disease.
  • Genetics or environmental reasons.

Who might get Peyronie's disease? What are the risk factors?

Minor injuries don't lead to Peyronie's disease. The factors that might play a role include

  • Heredity- if any of your family members have, then you have an increased risk.
  • Connective tissue disorder
  • Age - this condition may develop in men at any age, but the prevalence of the condition increases with age above 50.
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Health conditions
  • Autoimmune disorders
  • Prostate cancer

How is Peyronie's disease diagnosed?

Tests are performed to diagnose Peyronie's disease to understand what is causing the symptom's

Physical exam-

  • The doctor will feel your penis when it's not erected to check the location and amount of scar tissue,
  • The doctor will measure the length of the penis. If needed, an injection is given to temporarily erect your penis for examination.

Other tests:

An Ultrasound test is used for penis abnormalities. These tests use sound waves to produce images of soft tissues. These tests will show the presence of scar tissue, blood flow, and any other abnormalities.

Studies have shown that premalignant lesions such as bowenoid papulosis (BP), erythroplasia de Queyrat (EQ), Bowen's disease (BD), lichen sclerosus (LS), balanitis xerotica obliterans (BXO), penile horn, leukoplakia, subtypes of balanitis, and malignant giant condylomata acuminata are linked with an increased risk of penile carcinoma

Additionally, patients undergoing psoralen and ultraviolet A (PUVA) photochemotherapy for psoriasis are at an increased risk of developing penile cancer.

How is Peyronie's disease treated?

If your penis curvature is very little with no pain and no sexual problems then you will have no treatment. Sometimes it goes away without treatment.

The treatment depends upon how long the symptoms are present

Acute phase: you may have penile pain or curvature or length or a deformity of the penis. This phase happens early in the disease and may last for a month to one year.

Chronic phase- the scar stops growing and you have no pain, no changes in the curvature, length, or deformity of the penis. The chronic phase starts later in the disease and occurs after three to twelve months after symptoms start.

A Traction therapy device is used to stretch the penis.

Medications and injections are given but they have not shown to be effective as surgery.

Surgery is recommended if the deformity is severe. There are three surgical options to possibly fix the condition-

1. Suturing(plicating) the unaffected side
2. Incision or excision and grafting
3. Penile implants

The type of treatment will depend on your condition, severity, and symptoms. Depending on the type of surgery, you may get discharged the same day or you may need to stay one day. The doctor will advise you how long you need to wait.

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Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital

Address: Rao Saheb, Achutrao Patwardhan Marg, Four Bungalows, Andheri West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400053

Phone: +91-98 88 66 22 00

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