Buried penis: congenital syndrome of a short penile shaft and a paucity of penile shaft skin

PURPOSE: The term "buried penis" has been applied to a variety of penile abnormalities and includes an apparent buried penis that is obvious at birth. The purpose of this study was to examine prospectively the congenital buried penis and to evaluate an operative technique for its management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 31 males 2 to 28 months old (mean age 12.3 months) with a congenital buried penis underwent surgical correction of the anomaly. Measurements were made of the penile shaft skin, inner leaf of the prepuce, glans length and stretched penile length. Observations of the subcutaneous tissue of the penis were made. The outer leaf of the prepuce was resected, following which covering of the penile shaft was accomplished with a combination of the penile shaft skin and the inner leaf of the prepuce. RESULTS: Stretched penile lengths ranged from 2.3 to 4.1 cm (mean 3.1). The glans length from the tip of the glans dorsally to the corona ranged from 0.9 to 1.6 cm (mean 1.2). The inner leaf of the prepuce ranged from 0.9 to 2.2 cm (mean 1.5) in length, while the dorsal penile skin lengths were 1 to 1.6 cm (mean 0.8). In all patients complete shaft coverage was accomplished using a combination of varying degrees of penile shaft skin and inner leaf of the prepuce. In no case was there a requirement for either unfurling of the inner and outer leaf of the prepuce or mobilization of scrotal flaps to accomplish shaft coverage. All patients healed well and have done well with a followup of 6 months to 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Congenital buried penis is a syndrome consisting of a paucity of penile shaft skin and a short penile shaft. The anomaly may be successfully repaired by carefully preserving a length of inner leaf of the prepuce sufficient to cover, in some instances, the length of the penile shaft. Anchoring of the penile skin to the shaft is not recommended.