Peyronie’s Disease and Skin Grafts
One surgical treatment for Peyronie’s Disease grafts other tissue to the penis to make it more flexible.
When a man has Peyronie’s Disease, there’s a noticeable curve in his penis, especially when it’s erect. Sometimes, the curve makes intercourse extremely difficult or impossible.
The condition is caused by plaques - spots of hardened scar tissue - that form on the elastic-like tunica albuginea, the sheath surrounding the spongy tissue that fills with blood during erection. Because of the plaques, the tunica albuginea loses some flexibility, causing the penis to bend.
In a plaque incision and grafting procedure, the surgeon cuts into the scar tissue and fills the opening with a graft. The graft material helps the penis regain its flexibility.
One common graft material is cadaveric pericardium, taken from human organ donors. The pericardium is the sac surrounding the heart and is elastic like the tunica albuginea. Tissue is sterilized before it is used as a graft.
Grafts can also come from the undersurface of your skin or the lining of the testicles.
It’s important to remember that plaque incision and grafting is just one type of surgery used to treat Peyronie’s. (For more information on other types, please click here.) Candidates for this surgery generally have a more severe curvature.
Complications of plaque incision and grafting include loss of sensitivity at the tip of the penis, shortening of the penis, and erectile dysfunction (ED). Your urologist can help you decide which treatment is best for you.
For more: Peyronie's Disease
