Ecchymosis on the penis, scrotum and pubis
Glauber Voltan, Fred Bernardes Filho
Corresponding author: Fred Bernardes Filho, Dermatology Division, Department of Medical Clinics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Received: 10 Nov 2017 - Accepted: 19 Nov 2017 - Published: 22 Nov 2017
Domain: Dermatology,Emergency medicine
Keywords: Penile diseases, male urogenital diseases, scrotum
©Glauber Voltan et al. Pan African Medical Journal (ISSN: 1937-8688). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Glauber Voltan et al. Ecchymosis on the penis, scrotum and pubis. Pan African Medical Journal. 2017;28:252. [doi: 10.11604/pamj.2017.28.252.14366]
Available online at: https://www.panafrican-med-journal.com//content/article/28/252/full
Ecchymosis on the penis, scrotum and pubis
Glauber Voltan1, Fred Bernardes Filho2,&
1Independent Radiologist Consultant, Juína, Mato Grosso, Brazil, 2Dermatology Division, Department of Medical Clinics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
&Corresponding author
Fred Bernardes Filho, Dermatology Division, Department of Medical Clinics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
A 52-year-old male patient with a mechanical prosthetic valve, in use of the combination of aspirin and warfarin, presented to the emergency department after 12 hours of a blunt injury of erect penis during sexual intercourse. On physical examination there was swelling and subcutaneous hematoma extending over the proximal penile shaft, the scrotum and the pubis with a dorsal-left sided deviation of the penis. The scrotum was swollen and painful on physical examination and the testicles were palpable with difficulty due to the pain. The patient denied any voiding difficulties or haematuria and had neither blood at the meatus nor palpable bladder. On the basis of the history and physical examination, a diagnosis of penile fracture and urethral trauma was made. The patient was brought immediately to the operating room for retrograde urethrography and surgical exploration. Although highly underreported, penile fracture is uncommon urologic injury. These injuries attract a lot of psychological, physical, functional, and emotional distress on the patient. The diagnosis of penile fracture is largely clinical with a definite history of trauma, a "crack" sound and rapid detumescence of the erection. Depending on whether the Buck's fascia has been breached, the hematoma will track to the base of the shaft or spread to the perineum, scrotum (butterfly sign) and lower abdominal wall. If the fracture involves the urethra, blood will extravasate through the urethra. Urethral bleeding or hematuria or voiding symptoms suggest associated trauma to the urethra.
Figure 1: penile swelling and ecchymosis