Penile Reconstruction: Combined Use of an Innervated Forearm Osteocutaneous Flap and Big Toe Pulp

Abstract

The use of a radial forearm flap has become the most popular method to reconstruct a phallus in recent years. This method of reconstruction, however, is plagued with problems such as urethral fistula and loss of phallic girth as a result of tissue atrophy, rendering a phallic contour that is cosmetically unsatisfactory. We had the opportunity of modifying the technique of penile reconstruction using a forearm osteocutaneous flap to minimize these problems. Specifically, a segment of the big toe pulp is used to reconstruct a glans penis. Sensory restoration in the "glans" and "penile shaft" is restored by coapting the digital and the antebrachial nerves to the penile nerve remnants. A segment of flexor carpi radialis muscle is included in the design of a forearm flap to reinforce the coaptation site of the urethral tract. An arteriovenous shunt is incorporated in the shaft as a mechanism to elicit erection of the penis by compressing the root of the neophallus. We had used these technical modifications in a 51-year-old man who had undergone penile amputation because of cancer. The cosmetic appearance and erotic and tactile sensation in the shaft and glans were proper and satisfactory at the end of fourth year after the surgery. The coital function was also satisfactory.