Improving clinical diagnostic accuracy and management of False penile fractures characterizing typical clinical presentation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose False penile fractures (FPF) represent a rare sexual emergency characterized by blunt trauma of penis in the absence of albuginea’s injury, with or without lesion of dorsal penile vein.

Their presentation is often indistinguishable from true penile fractures (TPF).

This overlapping of clinical presentation, and lack of knowledge about FPF, can lead surgeons often to proceed directly to surgical exploration without further examinations.

The aim of this study was to define a typical presentation of false penile fractures (FPF) emergency, identifying in absence of “snap” sound, slow detumescence, penile shaft ecchymosis, and penile deviation main clinical signs.

Methods We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis based on Medline, Scopus and Cochrane following a protocol designed a priori, to define sensitivity of “snap” sound absence, slow detumescence and penile deviation.

Results Based on the literature search of 93 articles, 15 were included (73 patients).

All patients referred pain, most of them during coitus ( n  = 57; 78%).

Detumescence occurred in 37/73 (51%), and all patients described detumescence occurrence as “slow”.

The results show that single anamnestic item have a high-moderate sensibility in the diagnosis of FPF, and the highest sensitive item was penile deviation (sensibility = 0.86).

However, when more than one item is present, overall sensitivity increases greatly, closing to 100% (95% Confidence Interval 92–100).

Conclusion Surgeons can consciously decide between additional exams, a conservative approach, and rapid intervention using these indicators to detect FPF.

Our findings identified symptoms with excellent specificity for FPF diagnosis, giving clinicians more useful tools for making decisions.