INTRODUCTION

Most reports about traumatic rupture of corpus cavernosum, otherwise known as penile fracture, usually lay emphasis on its rarity or uncommon occurrence. This may be due to the sporadic nature of the reports in the world literature. While the uncommon occurrence may be true for most individual centers which only see a few cases per year, it does not necessarily reflect the true situation in the world. A Medline search of the literature reveals that there has been a steady increase in the number of reported cases in world literature from approximately 30 cases in 1975 to 100 in 1988 and 200 cases in 1996. The Japanese medical literature also revealed rising interest in the subject, with observations that between 1930 and 2002, a total of 231-240 cases of penile fractures were reported in two review publications. In another study recently, a Medline search revealed that between 1935 and 2001, there were 183 publications on the subject worldwide, involving 1,331 cases of penile fracture. These reports show a rising trend which may be an indication of greater interest in reporting or else reflect actual increase in incidence of this problem.

While most centers have reported relatively few cases, a few have, however, reported relatively large numbers in their series. Among these, Zar-gooshi stands out with a very large series involving 172 cases of penile fracture from a center in Iran.

Although most of the reports on fractured penis are said to come from the Mediterranean region, publications on the subject have a worldwide distribution. A previous report from the Assir Central Hospital revealed that there were 12 incidents of penile fracture involving 11 patients in an eight-year review of emergencies in the department of urology.
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Recent impressions suggest an increasing number of fresh cases of this trauma presenting in our department. This observation is the basis for a revisit to the subject in an effort to try and detect any new trends in incidence, clinical presentation, and management of this condition, and to examine the possible factors responsible for such changes.