Man who had an erection for two days had to get the tip of his penis amputated
A man from India was required to have his penis partly amputated as he developed gangrene from an erection which went on for two days.
According to reports, the 52-year-old, who remains anonymous, had to go to the doctors as he was unable to get rid of the "painful and sustained" erection.
The medics quickly drained the blood from his penis but ended up leaving a catheter in and dressed his penis which resulted in the man developing black gangrene.
The doctors had no choice but to amputate that specific part of his penis after he showed signs of extreme tissue damage which was caused by the loss of blood circulation. The unusual case took place at the King George's Medical University in Lucknow and was published in the British Medical Journal.
The man suffered from priapism, which is the medical term used for persistent and painful erection. It is currently not known what exactly caused the man's erection to last so long, with experts considering any erection that lasts more than 2 hours to be a medical emergency.
When the man initially went to the doctor, he had been suffering from priapism for around 48 hours. According to the NHS, priapism can be caused by sickle cell disease or by the use of illegal/ legal prescription drugs for erectile dysfunction.
The doctors had attempted to fix the problem by placing a shunt into his penis which is a device intended to divert the flow of blood, before putting in a urinary catheter and then tightly wrapping it with dressing.
Dr. Saqib Mehdi wrote in the medical report, "We removed his urethral catheter. But still the black color of glans penis deepened over the next day and a clear line of demarcation became visible between it and the penile shaft."
Three weeks post the surgery, the anonymous man was able to urinate as usual and also has a "healthy wound".
According to Dr. Mehdi, the catheter, as well as the tight dressing which was put on after the procedure, could have resulted in the patient developing gangrene.
The man was released 48 hours after having the surgery.