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Case Report
Prolonged ischemic priapism in an adolescent with sickle cell anemia: Challenges of management
1 Department of Surgery, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
2 Department of Surgery, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
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Akputa Aja Obasi
Department of Surgery, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State,
Nigeria
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Article ID: 100131Z12OA2024
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Obasi AA, Omebe WES. Prolonged ischemic priapism in an adolescent with sickle cell anemia: Challenges of management. J Case Rep Images Surg 2024;10(1):15–18.ABSTRACT
Introduction: Persistent penile erection lasting more than 4 hours and unrelated to sexual interest or stimulation is called priapism. Priapism is uncommon in children. Of the three widely accepted types: ischemic, non-ischemic, and stuttering priapism; ischemic priapism is the predominant type seen in children. A common cause of ischemic priapism in children is sickle cell disease. Ischemic priapism of prolonged duration is associated with a higher risk of complications especially irreversible loss of erectile function. It is a difficult clinical condition to manage and there are no established guidelines for its management in children. Adequate surgical treatment does not guarantee against the risk of devastating long-term sequelae.
Case Report: We report a case of a 12-year-old boy with sickle cell anemia who presented after 48 hours of sustained painful penile erection. He required multiple surgical shunting procedures including distal corporoglanular shunt with tunneling of both corpora cavernosa with Hegar’s dilator to achieve detumescence. The management challenges encountered are highlighted.
Conclusion: A potential role for anticoagulation and the use of low-dose hydroxyurea in the prevention of recurrent ischemic priapism in children with sickle cell anemia are advocated.
Keywords: Children, Ischemic, Priapism, Prolonged, Shunt, Sickle cell anemia
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Author Contributions
Akputa Aja Obasi - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Wilson Egwu Sunday Omebe - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guarantor of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2024 Akputa Aja Obasi et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.
