Retrograde Progression of Inner Preputial Skin to Overcome Skin Shortage in Cases of Congenital Buried Penis.

Aim: The aim of this study is to report our experience in the treatment of congenital buried penis using a simplified technique of retrograde progression of inner preputial skin for reconstruction and overcome skin shortage.

Methods: This is a retrospective multi-institutional study conducted in the Department of Pediatric Surgery, I Q City Medical College and Hospital, Durgapur, West Bengal, India, and the Department of Paediatric Surgery, Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital/Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka, India, over a period of 3 years (from March 2019 to February 2022). A total of 14 cases of primary congenital buried penis were operated in the specified period. Age of the patients ranged between 8 months and 9 years. Retrograde progression of the inner preputial skin to provide coverage to the dorsal aspect of penile shaft and ventral transposition of the dorsal penile skin to cover the ventral penile shaft was used as a standard procedure for skin coverage.

Results: All patients had good-to-excellent outcomes with uniformly improved visualisation of penile shaft post-operatively. There were no significant post-operative complications apart from mild oedema which subsided over a period of 3 weeks. Genital hygiene had significantly improved in all the patients as a result of uninterrupted urinary stream.

Conclusion: Retrograde progression of the inner preputial skin may be used as an effective technique to provide skin coverage to the penile shaft for reconstruction of congenital buried penis. It provides good functional and cosmetic results with adequate parental and patient satisfaction with minimal complications.