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Ординатура / Хирургия / Библиотека им академика М.И. Перельмана / Книга_623_Библиотеки_им_академика_М_И_Перельмана

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The prostate 455
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are common. Systemic symptoms, such as myalgia and arthralgia, may be present.
The aetiology of the syndrome is unclear; occult infection, an autoimmune process and pelvic abnormality have all been suggested. Treatment options include an empirical course of antibiotics, α- blockers if there are LUTS, and non- steroidal, anti- inflammatory drugs. Investigation for neuropathic pain or psychosocial assessment may be appropriate in some patients.
muscle
Prostate cancer
Pathology
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with 1 in 8men being affected in their lifetime. Prostate cancer typically affects those over 50 years of age, and risk increases with age and it is estimated to affect 80% of men aged 80; it is morecommon to die with the disease than from it. Those with a family history, and those of black race, have the highest lifetime risk (1in 4).
Macroscopic appearance
The tumour is usually situated in the posterior part of the prostate beneath its capsule and appears as an infiltrating, hard, pale area.
Microscopic appearance
The tumour is almost always an adenocarcinoma. The degree of differentiation is quoted in terms of the Gleason grade,
Spread
Local: there is invasion of the periprostatic tissues
and adjacent organs (i.e. the bladder, urethra, seminal vesicles) and, rarely, invasion around and ulceration into the rectum.
1
Donald Gleason (1920–2008), Pathologist, Minneapolis, MN, USA. e Gleason grade is a histological score based on the degree of dierentiation, such that grade 1 is well dierentiated and grade 5 is poorly dierentiated. Two scores are given, the rst reecting the dominant pattern in the biopsy, the second reecting the next most common pattern. Hence the range goes from 2 to 10. us a Gleason 4+3would be a worse prognosis tumour than a 3+2, for example.
1
usually from 6 to 10.
Lymphatic: to the iliac and para- aortic nodes. Blood- borne: especially to the pelvis, spine and
• skull, usually as osteosclerotic lesions. Secondaries may also be found in the liver and lung.
Clinical features
Prostate cancer may be detected without symptoms on the basis of an elevated PSA and/or an abnormal digital rectal examination, or present with symptoms that are identical to those of benign enlargement. The patient may also present with advanced disease with symptoms from secondary deposits, particularly with pain in the back from vertebral metastases or even with spinal cord compression or cauda equina syndrome.
Rectal examination of the prostate may reveal four different stages (the Tumour component of TNM staging; Figure45.1).
T1
The prostate feels benign, with no palpable
tumour.
T1a: Incidental finding in ≤5% resected tissue in TURP. T1b: Incidental finding in >5% resected tissue in TURP. T1c: Tumour identified on prostate biopsy triggered by raised PSA.
T2
A hard nodule in one lobe of the prostate or abolishing the normal sulcus between the two lateral lobes. The tumour is confined to the prostate.
T2a: Tumour involves half of one lobe or less. T2b: Tumour involves more than half of one
lobe. T2c: Tumour involves both lobes.
A hard mass in the prostate together with
T3
infiltration of the tissues on one or both sides of the prostate (T3a) or into the seminal vesicles (T3b). T4 A hard mass in the prostate which is fixed to the pelvic side wall and/or is invading the bladder, external sphincter, rectum, levator muscles.
Special investigations
PSA concentration in the blood is usually raised in the presence of prostate cancer (Box45.1). A PSA over 20 ng/mL suggests disseminated disease. PSA is also useful as a tumour marker to follow the response to treatment.
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Vas deferens
Seminal vesicle
T1: No tumour palpable clinically
T3: Tumour extends outside capsule or into seminal vesicles
T2: Tumour palpable but confined to prostate
T4: Tumour extends into pelvic side wall or bladder
Box 45.1 Prostate- specific antigen (PSA)
PSA is an enzyme produced by epithelial cells of the prostate gland, by normal as well as malignant cells. It is may be raised in the following circumstances:
Increasing age.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Ejaculation.
Prostate biopsy.
Prostate stimulation, e.g. rectal examination.
Prostatitis.
Urethral catheterization.
Urinary retention.
Urinary tract infection.
Vigorous exercise.
Cycling.
Prostate cancer.
Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) is used increasingly to identify the pri­mary tumour and for staging.
Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided prostate biopsy: TRUS is used to guide needle core
Figure45.1 The clinical staging of
prostatic carcinoma.
biopsies, which are performed systematically through the gland obtaining 10–15 cores. These should confirm the diagnosis and grade of tumour. It is associated with perineal pain, blood in urine, faeces, and semen, and carries a risk of severe sepsis.
Bone scan is indicated if the PSA is greater than
• 20ng/mL, or a T3 or T4 tumour, or if there is bone pain or other symptoms suggestive of bony metas­tases, the presence of which the bone scan will demonstrate.
CT scan to stage the tumour, looking for nodal
(iliac and para- aortic) or solid organ metastases (e.g. lung, liver, brain).
The role ofPSA indiagnosis
PSA has revolutionized prostate cancer diagnosis since its discovery. PSA is not a cancer- specific marker but an organ- specific marker, meaning it can be ele­vated without prostate cancer being present in condi­tions such as BPH, prostatitis, urinary retention and urinary tract infection. Lastly, PSA can be variable with transient rises in PSA which are not sustained on repeat testing. In asymptomatic patients with a
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normal digital rectal examination, an elevated age­specific PSA on two readings several weeks apart is needed before commencing further investigations for prostate cancer. An abnormal rectal examination in conjunction with an elevated PSA is always an indica­tion for further investigation.
Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging
Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) now allows assess­ment of the prostate using different image acquisition techniques from which the prostate imaging report­ing and data system (PI_RADS) score can be used to estimate relative risk of prostate cancer being present. mpMRI allows the identification of suspicious areas within the prostate for targeted biopsy, thus increas­ing the diagnostic yield of what is a relatively invasive investigation. Hence, mpMRI should be performed before biopsy.
Prostate biopsy
Prostate biopsies have traditionally been taken via the transrectal route with ultrasound guidance under local anaesthesia. More recently, there has been an increased interest in performing biopsies via the transperineal route. This reduces the risk of life­threatening sepsis associated with the transrectal route, which has remained at around 1% even with antibiotic prophylaxis.
Treatment
Treatment is based on the likelihood of tumour confinement to the gland, derived from its degree of
histological differentiation (the Gleason grade score), the PSA concentration and the clinical tumour stage (see earlier in this chapter). These have been formu­lated into a series of Prognostic Groups (CPG, Table45.1). Equally the patient’s overall fitness, their perception of risk and what are acceptable side effects or treatment also play a role in reaching a shared deci­sion, particularly in low-
risk localized disease.
Localized disease
The active treatments available for localized disease (Cambridge Prognostic Groups 1 to 3) are as follows:
Active surveillance.
• Radical Prostatectomy. Radical Radiotherapy.
Active surveillance
Active surveillance is designed to avoid harmful side effects from radical treatment in patients with low­risk disease (CPG 1), and to offer an alternative to patients with intermediate disease (CPG 2 and 3) who do not want radical treatment; it is not appropriate for patients with high­table 45.1). The goal is to keep a patient’s prostate cancer under surveillance but in the ‘window of cur­ability’, and offer curative treatments should the patients disease progress or change.
In the first year, PSA is checked every 3 to 4months, with digital rectal examination and mpMRI scan at 12 – 18 months. Thereafter, PSA is checked every 6months, and a rectal examination performed every 12months, with further mpMRI and prostate biopsies according to local preference, or if indicated by evi­dence of disease progression. The patient will then be offered one of the radical treatment options.
risk disease (CPG 4 and 5, see
Table45.1 Risk stratification forlocalized or locally advanced prostate cancer
Cambridge Prognostic Group Level of risk
1 low <10μg/L AND ≤6 AND T1
2 10–20μl/L OR 3+4 AND T1– T2
3 intermediate 10–20μl/L AND 3+4 AND T1– T2
4 >20μl/L OR 8 OR T3
5 high TWO of: PSA>20μg/L OR 9 to 10 OR T4
Prostate- specic antigen
Gleason score
4+3 AND T1– T2
Clinical tumour stage
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Radical prostatectomy
Radical prostatectomy is typically performed using robotic systems to reduce hospital length of stay. This minimally invasive approach has radically changed how patients are managed after surgery, with some centres discharging patients within 24 hours of their surgery. The procedure involves removing the prostate, seminal vesicles and possibly the pelvic lymph nodes, with anastomosis of the bladder neck to the urethra just distal to the excised prostate. The long- term side effects include erectile dysfunction in half the patients, and urinary incontinence in approximately 13%.
Radical radiotherapy
Radical radiotherapy can be given by external beam or transperineal placement of radio- iodine seeds (brachytherapy) and can be combined with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) depending on tumour risk. Long-
term incontinence rates are lower at 5% as are erectile dysfunction rates at 36%, but the treatment does carry a higher rate of faecal incontinence at 4%. Radiotherapy also carries a small risk of triggering another malignant process in the radiotherapy field.
Watchful waiting
Watchful waiting is part of a strategy for ‘managing’ prostate cancer and is aimed at people with localized prostate cancer who do not ever wish to have curative treatment, or they are not fit enough to undergo radi­cal treatments. Watchful waiting involves the deferred use of hormone therapy with the objective to main­tain quality of life. It avoids the use of surgery or radia­tion, but implies that curative treatment will not be attempted.
Metastatic prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is often discovered at a stage when it has already spread beyond the prostatic capsule and may well have involved other organs, particularly the bladder base and bones. The mainstay of treatment of advanced disease is androgen deprivation and chem­otherapy, with an emphasis on prolonging life and minimizing symptoms.
Docetaxel, which inhibits cell proliferation by
stabilizing microtubules within the tumour cells.
Gonadotrophin- releasing hormone agonists, trip-
torelin, goserelin and leuprorelin, are the main­stay of treatment. They inhibit the release of luteinizing hormone from the anterior pituitary, with consequent reduction of testicular produc­tion of testosterone. Initiation of therapy may cause a flare of testosterone production, and hence a flare of disease, so a short 3­of anti-
androgen therapy (e.g. bicalutamide) is
given when treatment commences.
Gonadotrophin- releasing hormone (GnRH) antag-
onist, e.g. Degarelix for the first- line treatment of androgen­has a direct mechanism of action that blocks the action of GnRH on the pituitary with no initial surge in gonadotrophin or testosterone levels.
Orchidectomy for prostate cancer is very seldom done nowadays, but can often relieve symptoms and produce dramatic remissions in the course of the disease. It is still offered as an alternative to GnRH agonists.
Palliation produced by hormonal treatment of pros­tatic cancer suppresses PSA to normal levels for an average of 2 years, after which it slowly rises, with symptoms returning a few months later. When the cancer is refractory to hormone therapy, the average life expectancy decreases significantly. Multiple new treatments have been developed for 2 line use and overall 5- year survival for metastatic prostate cancer is now 30%.
Radiotherapy may relieve the pain of bony deposits and can also be used for local control to supplement hormonal therapy.
dependent advanced prostate cancer. It
week course
nd
line and 3rd
Additional resources
Case 115: A man with difculty passing urine and with an interesting X- ray Case 116: Sciatica with a sinister cause Case 117: A patient with a very distended bladder
The male urethra
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Arthur McPhee
Learning objectives
To know the congenital anomalies of the male urethra.To know the dierent types of urethral injury and their management.To know the causes, investigation and treatment of urethral stricture.
spongiosum. If the genital folds fail to develop or fuse
Anatomy
The six parts of the male urethra are often subdivided by urologists into anterior and posterior regions, as follows.
The posterior urethra comprises:
Prostatic urethra, traverses the prostate gland.
• Membranous urethra, passes through the external sphincter and fascial perineal membrane.
The anterior urethra comprises:
• Bulbar urethra passes through the bulb of the penis in the perineum.
Penile urethra, passing through the penis, often
• called the spongy urethra since it passes through the corpus spongiosum.
Sub- meatal urethra, that portion within the glans.
• External meatus visible at the tip of the penis.
completely, the tube is either short or absent. The ure­thra thus opens onto the ventral surface of the penis anywhere from the perineum up to the glans.
Hypospadias is associated with three abnormalities:
Ventral opening of the urethra on the penis.
A hooded foreskin, due to deficient development of the ventral part of the foreskin.
Chordee, a downward curvature of the penis on
erection associated with proximal hypospadias.
Treatment is complex and should be reserved for specialist centres. The essential components of reconstructive surgery include correction of penile chordee, urethroplasty for urethral reconstruction and appropriate skin coverage to obtain a satisfactory cosmetic appearance. The foreskin is utilized as a skin flap; therefore, circumcision before correction of the abnormality is contraindicated.
46
Congenital anomalies
Hypospadias
The male urethra is formed by the inrolling of the genital folds, which themselves form the corpus
Ellis and Calne’s Lecture Notes in General Surgery, Fourteenth Edition. Edited by Christopher Watson and Justin Davies. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2023 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Companion website: www.wiley.com/go/Watson/GeneralSurgery14
Epispadias
Epispadias, where the urethra opens dorsally on the penis, is associated with other anterior abdominal wall defects including exstrophy of the bladder as part of the exstrophy­more commonly in males. Prenatal screening detects a large proportion of exstrophy patients but epispa­dias is typically detected at birth.
Surgery to correct this abnormality is again com­plex and should be performed in specialist centres.
epispadias complex, and occurs
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Posterior urethral valves (see also Chapter45)
A valve- like membrane at the level of the verumonta­num. This can obstruct the flow of urine, resulting in chronic retention of urine and uraemia in infants.
Urethral injury andtrauma inthe male
Urethral injury and trauma may be generally divided into anterior urethral injuries and posterior urethral injuries and then subdivided into those injuries caused by iatrogenic trauma, blunt trauma and those by penetrating trauma.
Anterior urethral injuries
In anterior urethral injuries, the bulbar urethra is the site most commonly affected by blunt trauma, com­pressing the bulbar urethra against the pubic symph­ysis and leading to injury/rupture through compression. This can be through straddle injuries, such as falling astride a bicycle cross bar, or blunt force such as a kick to the perineum. Penetrating anterior injuries are rare and are typically associated with other penile, testicular or pelvic injuries.
Iatrogenic injury is unsurprisingly the most com­mon cause of urethral trauma with most injuries being associated with urethral catheterization. These are typically false passages created by forceful inser­tion of the urinary catheter and incorrect inflation of the retaining balloon within the urethra.
Clinical features
The history of injury to the pelvis or perineum should prompt suspicion. There can also be a delay in both signs and symptoms, which can be of delayed onset in relation to the injury itself. The important features are:
Blood at the external urethral meatus is the ‘clas-
sic’ sign of urethral trauma but the absence of blood does not exclude an injury.
Urinary retention, in a complete injury.
Haematuria and pain on voiding (incomplete
injury) should also raise suspicion of an injury in the context of trauma.
Swelling of the penis, scrotum and perineum
• secondary to urinary extravasation and haematoma.
Digital rectal examination should be performed to exclude rectal injury (blood on glove or palpable defect), which can be present in up to 5% of cases. The presence of a ‘high­from the anterior urethra, is a well- known but unreli­able feature.
riding prostate’, disconnected
Special investigations
CT scan, often done as part of a trauma series in
patients with pelvic trauma.
Retrograde urethrogram, using dilute water-
soluble contrast medium will identify extravasa­tion or loss of continuity, and localize the site of injury. Extravasation with bladder filling suggests incomplete injury, extravasation with no bladder filling is suggestive of complete posterior urethral injury.
Posterior urethral injuries
Posterior urethral injuries, both blunt and penetrat­ing, are typically associated with significant trauma.
Blunt urethral injuries are almost always as a result of pelvic fractures with the risk increasing with the severity of the fracture, and are most commonly associated with road traffic accidents. Pelvic fracture urethral injuries are again subdivided into partial and complete rupture.
Penetrating posterior urethral injuries are rare and are typically associated with gunshot injuries in which there is a high probability of associated intrabdominal injuries. The associated injuries of posterior urethral trauma in the male can often be
threatening and will often dictate the patient’s
life­initial assessment and management.
Management
Satisfactory management depends on a high index of suspicion leading to early diagnosis.
Anterior urethral injuries
Early management of anterior urethral injuries can be divided into either urinary diversion, via suprapubic or transurethral catheterization, or immediate explo­ration and reconstruction.
Exploration and reconstruction are reserved for non- life- threatening penetrating injuries and penile­fracture - related injuries. In cases with significant defects or where the presence/risk of infection is very
high (e.g. bite wounds), this is done as part of a staged
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repair.
Urinary diversion is typically performed either through suprapubic catheterization or endoscopic realignment with urethral catheterization. These are typically the interventions of choice in cases of life threating pelvic injury.
Posterior urethral injuries
Management of posterior urethral injury is typically performed in the first instance by an attempt at either urethral catheterization by an experienced clinician or with ultrasound guidance, or open suprapubic catheter insertion. Subsequent early management (2 days to 6 weeks) can either be in the form of an early urethroplasty or early realignment but manage­ment of the associated pelvic injuries means that repair beyond 6 weeks (‘deferred urethroplasty’) is the standard treatment.
Complications
Stricture formation often occurs following injuries
to the urethra because of scarring; subsequent repair may be necessary.
Impotence occurs in half the patients, as a conse-
quence of either a pelvic injury involving the ter­minal branches of the internal iliac arteries or injury to the nerves supplying the penis.
Urethral stricture
Urethral stricture disease can be broadly grouped into anterior urethral stricture and posterior urethral stricture.
Posterior urethral strictures are associated with trauma, as described above, or can be present as a result of previous surgical interventions such as transurethral prostatectomy (TURP) or radical prostatectomy.
Anterior urethral strictures can have many causes:
Congenital: meatal stenosis in hypospadias.
Infection/inflammation:
a Gonococcal urethritis. b Non- specific urethritis, for example
Chlamydia.
c
Balanitis xerotica obliterans.
Tra uma:
a Blunt trauma, e.g. straddle injury.
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Iatrogenic
Urethral instrumentation including
a
catheterization.
Previous urethral or prostatic surgery.
b
Clinical features
Typically, the patient with a urethral stricture may com­plain of difficulty passing urine, with a poor stream and straining to empty his bladder. He is often younger than 50 years (in contrast to men with benign prostatic dis­ease). Patients may also present with urinary infection and acute retention as a consequence of the stricture.
Special investigations
Urinary flow rate: the stricture limits the flow of urine, and measurement of the flow rate shows a flat plateau.
Urethrogram will demonstrate the location and
• length of the stricture.
Urethroscopy will visualize the stricture and facili-
tate treatment.
Treatment
Optical urethrotomy or urethral dilatation are com­mon first- line treatments for uncomplicated stric­tures. Optical urethrotomy has the benefit of being performed under direct vision compared to tradi­tional urethral dilatation. However, newer urethral dilators have been developed with hydrophilic coat­ings and channels for guidewires so that dilatation can be performed using a Seldinger are increasingly popular in the acute setting.
Urethral strictures have a high chance of recur­rence depending on the length of the stricture and the degree of corporal fibrosis, although 50% will require no further treatment after either optical urethrotomy or urethral dilatation.
Recurrent strictures can be treated by further optical urethrotomy or urethroplasty, with either simple resection of the stricture with end- to- end anastomosis of the ends, or interposition of a graft of buccal mucosa.
The management of acute retention due to urethral stricture is outlined in Chapter45.
1
Sven Seldinger (1921–1998), Radiologist, Karolinska Hospital, Sweden. e technique involves rst passing a wire through the lumen, and then railroading instruments, stents, cannulas, etc. over the wire.
1
technique, and
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47
The penis
Arthur McPhee
Learning objectives
To understand phimosis, paraphimosis, balanitis and their treatment.To know about carcinoma of the penis, its presentations and treatment.To know the causes of erectile dysfunction and its treatment.
Phimosis
Phimosis is narrowing of the preputial orifice, leading to difficulty retracting the prepuce (foreskin); the lit­eral Greek translation is ‘muzzling’. It can be divided into physiological, pathological or idiopathic.
Clinical features
The most common symptoms in adults are inability to retract the foreskin or pain during intercourse. In children, the foreskin may balloon and the urinary stream may be reduced to a dribble. Physiological phimosis is very common and typically resolves with­out intervention as children age.
Treatment
Young children
While non- retractile prepuce is a common presenta­tion in childhood, the natural history of physiological phimosis is that it will resolve with age. Natural his­tory studies have shown around 8% of 6–7­will have a non- retractile foreskin but this percentage reduces to 1% of 16–17- year- olds. In the absence of
Ellis and Calne’s Lecture Notes in General Surgery, Fourteenth Edition. Edited by Christopher Watson and Justin Davies. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2023 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Companion website: www.wiley.com/go/Watson/GeneralSurgery14
year- olds
recurrent infections/balanitis, circumcision is not typically recommended, as the condition can be expected to improve.
Older children andadults
Initial treatment for physiological phimosis is typi­cally with topical steroid cream and stretching exercises. If the symptoms are persistent and trouble­some, circumcision is considered the definitive surgical management.
Phimosis caused by scarring after recurrent balanitis
is more typically managed with primary circumcision.
Paraphimosis
Paraphimosis results from retracting a tight foreskin proximally over the glans. The foreskin acts as a con­stricting band, interfering with venous return from the glans, which, therefore, swells painfully. Once swelling starts, it becomes increasingly difficult to replace the foreskin.
Paraphimosis most commonly follows urethral catheterization; the foreskin is retracted over the glans to expose the meatus for cleaning the glans prior to catheter insertion. Once the catheter is inserted, if the foreskin is not replaced promptly, it can constrict the venous return, producing a paraphi­mosis. Hence it is important to always ensure that the
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patient’s foreskin is pulled forward again after the insertion of an indwelling catheter. Paraphimosis may also occur after an erection.
Treatment
Once a paraphimosis has become established, it can be challenging to reduce. Traditional advice is to apply a swab soaked in 50% dextrose to reduce some swelling by osmosis. This may be followed by direct pressure to the glans for a few minutes to allow the foreskin to be reduced to its normal position. If thepatient struggles to tolerate the manual pressure required for reduction, a local anaesthetic penile block can be performed to facilitate this.
Should reduction still prove difficult with local anaesthetic block, the clinician can consider per­forming the ‘Dundee Technique’. With an appropriate local anaesthetic block performed and the area cleaned with anti- septic solution, a 25G needle is used to perform a series of up to 20 punctures in the oedematous foreskin to release the oedema. Once manual pressure has been applied again, oedema should reduce rapidly allowing the foreskin to be reduced to its natural position.
Under rare circumstances where paraphimosis has been present for many hours, a dorsal slit may be required to achieve appropriate resolution. The dorsal slit is used rather than a circumcision as there is a much greater risk of removing too much skin with a circumcision in the presence of distorted anatomy.
After any episode of painful paraphimosis, patients are typically offered circumcision at a later date to prevent recurrence.
Balanitis
Balanitis is an acute inflammation of the foreskin and glans, with possible causes including infection and allergic dermatitis. Management depends on the underlying condition and causative organ­ism. It is important to test the urine for sugar to exclude diabetes, which may predispose to the inflammation, in which case Candida may be the infecting organism.
Recurrent balanitis may result in phimosis from scarring.
Treatment
The parents should clean the penis daily with luke­warm water and dry it gently. The foreskin should not be forcibly retracted if it is still fixed, and potential irritants such as soap, bubble bath and baby wipes should be avoided. Nappies should be changed frequently.
For suspected allergic dermatitis, the suspected
cause (e.g. soap, bubble bath) should be avoided and 1% hydrocortisone cream applied for up to 14days.
For suspected non- specific dermatitis, topical 1%
hydrocortisone cream and an imidazole cream may be used for up to 4days.
For suspected or confirmed candida balanitis, a
• topical imidazole cream for up to 14days.
For suspected or confirmed bacterial balanitis, oral
• antibiotics, e.g. flucloxacillin, depending on sensi­tivities for 7days.
If there is no improvement after 7days of treatment, topical hydrocortisone should be stopped (if used) and a swab repeated. Very rarely, and almost exclu­sively in adults, it will be necessary to perform a biopsy to achieve a diagnosis.
Penile cancer
Pathology
Carcinoma of the penis is uncommon in Europe and the USA (<1in 100000), but more common in Africa and Asia (19 in 100000). Infant and childhood cir­cumcision is protective with cases being virtually unknown among populations who are circumcised soon after birth. Penile cancer is common in regions with high rates of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection (HPV types 16 and 18 predominantly), with approximately one­HPV- related carcinogenesis. Its viral link explains the higher incidence in the immunosuppressed. Smoking is also associated with penile cancer.
Macroscopic appearance
The premalignant stage is a persistent red patch on the penis progressing to either a papillary growth on the glans or an infiltrating ulcer; the latter is more common.
third of cases being attributed to
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Microscopic appearance
The lesions are squamous carcinomas, which are usually well differentiated.
Spread
Local: the tumour may fungate under or through the prepuce. Proximal spread along the shaft may destroy the substance of the penis.
Lymphatic: the inguinal lymph nodes are fre-
• quently involved, often bilaterally.
Blood- borne spread occurs late and is unusual.
Clinical features
Penile cancer affects the glans in almost half of all cases, followed by the prepuce, and coronal sulcus, with the shaft of penis only rarely being affected. The presenta­tion can range from an area of erythema to a fungating lesion with palpable inguinal lymphadenopathy.
It is common for men to present late, when the tumour has ulcerated through the prepuce or until some of the penis has been destroyed, presumably because of the embarrassment caused by the site of the tumour. Carcinoma of the penis never occludes the urethra and so it does not cause retention of urine.
Treatment
Diagnosis is confirmed by biopsy. Subsequent treatment is dictated by the stage of the tumour. Where the cancer is superficial and has not spread, penile preserving treat­ment with either topical chemotherapy, laser ablation, glans resurfacing or glansectomy with reconstruction.
Advanced lesions are managed with either partial or total amputation of the penis (penectomy), with inguinal lymph node sampling, or block dissection if the nodes are involved. Radiotherapy may also be required. This operation, although mutilating, does not interfere with micturition because the external sphincter is preserved. After a total amputation of the penis, the patients usually micturate sitting down.
Overall survival is around 75% at five years, but is better for early stage cancers.
Erectile dysfunction
The prevalence of erectile dysfunction in the adult male population is 20% and is correlated with increasing age.
Erection requires increased arterial flow into the erectile tissue of the penis, together with occlusion of venous outflow. Erection is mediated via efferent parasympathetic fibres from S2, S3 and S4. Reflex erection requires afferent signals via the pudendal nerve, while psychogenic erection requires outflow from the brain via the spinal cord.
Aetiology
Impotence most commonly occurs as a consequence of ageing, such that 70% of 70- year- olds have some difficulty with obtaining an erection (although 70% of
olds also have sexual intercourse). Aside from
70 year­ageing, the other causes of erectile impotence are as follows:
Neurogenic
Causes of neurogenic impotence include the following:
Congenital: spina bifida.
Spinal causes: spinal cord injury, spinal cord tumour.
Central causes: hypothalamic injury, cerebral
infarction/tumour.
Postsurgical causes: for example, pelvic surgery
such as anterior resection, abdominoperineal excision of the rectum and radical prostatectomy, due to damage of the pelvic parasympathetic nerves.
Vascular
Hypertension (and its treatment) is commonly asso­ciated with erectile dysfunction. Arterial disease affecting flow in the internal iliac arteries, as may result from aortoiliac disease, can cause impotence and buttock claudication (Leriche’s syndrome
1
).
Hormonal
Diabetes mellitus, the most common hormonal
cause, probably acting via a diabetic neuropathy. Erectile dysfunction may be a presenting symp­tom of diabetes in men.
Erectile dysfunction is the inability to achieve, or sustain, an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse.
1
René Leriche (1879–1955), Professor of Surgery,
successively at Lyon, Strasbourg and Paris, France.