Outpatient Surgical Management for Acquired Buried Penis

To demonstrate the safety and feasibility of outpatient surgical management for patients with acquired buried penis (ABP).

We conducted an Institutional Review Board approved review of patients who underwent surgical repair of ABP at a single institution from September 2014 to August 2017. Patient characteristics, operative details, and 30- and 90-day complications were assessed.

Sixteen patients underwent surgical repair of ABP at the University of Kentucky during the study period. Mean age was 54 years (range 44-62). Median body mass index (BMI) was 47.7 (range 25.5-53.3). Patients largely underwent penile liberation, escutcheonectomy, and split thickness skin grafting. Concurrent scrotoplasty and urethroplasty were performed in select cases. The majority of patients 10/16 (62.5%) were discharged on the same day of surgery, while the remaining 6/16 (37.5%) were outpatient extended stay-and were discharged on postoperative day 1. The 30- and 90-day complications were 19% and 25% respectively, all were Clavien II. Split thickness skin graft take was 100%, and technical success was achieved in all patients. Patients with complications had higher BMIs, higher rates of diabetes, and higher rates of tobacco use, though only BMI reached statistical significance (P = .0150, P = .5846, and P = .0632) respectively.

Multi component repair of adult ABP can be safely done on an outpatient basis without need for routine inpatient admission and complex algorithms. The most common complication is surgical site infection, which arose in the first 30 days postoperatively. Higher BMI was a significant risk factor for complications.