A 40-year-old man in the UK suffered the first vertical break of a penis ever reported. That means his tunica albuginea—the fibrous membrane that surrounds the spongy chambers that fill with blood during an erection—tore up and down as opposed to across the shaft. According to his physicians' report published in the current issue of the British Medical Journal, "the patient reported that his penis buckled against his partner's perineum" while they were having sex. He did not report the common "popping" sensation that usually accompanies such injuries.
After surgery and recovery, they wrote, "the patient was able to resume sexual activity within 6 months of the injury, achieving erections of the same quality to those prior to the injury, denying any penile curvature or significant palpable scarring."
From the British Medical Journal:
[A penile fracture] occurs when the erect penis is subjected to an abnormal 'bending' force, inducing an acute increase in intracavernosal pressures, exceeding the tensile strength of the tunica albuginea, which is approximately 1500 mm Hg, resulting in a tear, or so called 'fracture.'
Up to 88.5% of penile fractures occur during sexual intercourse, with a 20-year retrospective study concluding 'doggy style' and 'man on top' as the two main etiological positions. Other lesser reported causes include masturbation, sleeping prone and 'taqaandan' (the practice of forcible detumescence performed primarily in Middle Eastern countries).
Above is an MRI showing the injury. "Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, medical photography was prohibited," the physicians wrote. Unfortunately.
