In a wince-inducing new medical case study, doctors detail the first known person to have their penis broken vertically during sex. Excuse the bad analogies, but instead of the penis fracturing horizontally, a bit like the snapping of a twig, it somehow managed to splinter vertically from top to bottom. Fortunately, the man managed to recover and his doctors say he’ll live to have sex again (although, understandably, sex was off the table for the 6 months following the injury). As reported in the British Medical Journal Case Reports, urologists in the UK reported the case of a 40-year-old man who turned up to the emergency room complaining his penis had "buckled against his partner’s perineum", the space between the anus and the genitals, during sex. His doctors suspected the man was suffering from a fracture of the tunica albuginea, the rubbery heath that holds the spongy erectile tissue of the penis, known colloquially as a penis fracture. Unexpectedly, however, the man did not hear the characteristic “popping” noise often heard with this injury. An MRI scan of the area further highlighted that this was no ordinary case of a penile fracture. Instead of the tunica albuginea splitting horizontally around the penis, it broke vertically. It appears this is the first time doctors have ever come across this vertical penile fracture. While they only have this one-off case to go by, the study authors speculate that vertical fracture is not associated with the classical features of a penile fracture, namely the “popping” sensation, discoloration of the penis, and swelling. Surgeons quickly operated on the patient, as is standard with this injury, and he managed to recover. After six months of recovery, he was able to have sex again, had no significant changes to the appearance of the penis, and had the same quality of erection as those prior to the injury. “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,” the study notes. Rest assured, penile fractures are relatively rare, thought to affect some 1 per 175,000 people per year, according to some estimates. The injury appears to be most common in men in their 40s. Typically, patients will present with a deeply bruised, swollen penis that looks like an eggplant. It also commonly causes the penis to bend to one side. If it's not operated on within 24 hours then people are put at much of higher risk of erectile dysfunction, as well as an excessively curved penis. So, if you are unfortunate enough to experience this injury, don’t be shy and get yourself to a hospital ASAP. Source
