Utility of Skin Grafting and Tissue Expansion in Penile Reconstruction for the Exstrophy-Epispadias Complex

Thomas George William Harris, Mahir Maruf, Angelo Alberto Leto Barone, Richard James Redett, John Patrick Gearhart

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objective: To describe the use of additional tissue recruited for coverage after penile lengthening in male exstrophy-epispadias complex patients using either local skin from tissue expansion (TE) or extragenital skin with a skin graft (SG) and report their respective outcomes. Methods: An institutionally approved database of exstrophy-epispadias complex patients was retrospectively reviewed for male patients who received penile reconstruction. This included a penile lengthening procedure and the subsequent use of TE and/or a full thickness skin graft to provide cutaneous coverage of gained corporal length. Results: A total of 50 patients (mean age 18.1 years) underwent penile reconstruction. TE was used in 27 patients, SG in 19, and 4 received a combination of TE and SG. The mean number of previous penile operations was 2.7 for patients that received TE and 3.1 for SG. A successful outcome from primary reconstruction was achieved in 35 patients (70%) and overall successful reconstruction was achieved by 48 patients (96%). Conclusion: TE and SG are useful techniques in providing soft tissue coverage following penile lengthening. TE is the preferred technique for primary reconstruction in a lengthening procedure. When genital skin is not expandable or coverage from TE is insufficient after lengthening, extragenital skin (SG) is recruited.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)231-237
Number of pages7
JournalUrology
Volume136
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Urology

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