Experience on the Management of Priapism at the Yaounde Central Hospital

Introduction: Priapism is a urological emergency defined as a prolonged penile erection for more than 6 hours, painful and sustained, occurring without any sexual stimulation. The diagnosis is essentially clinical. However, the management is often late because of the delay in consultation, which is characteristic in our context. The purpose of our study is to describe the clinical and therapeutic aspects of patients who presented with priapism at the Yaoundé Central Hospital as well as to propose a present synthesis concerning the management of priapism. Methodology: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study with a retrospective recruitment method in the urology department of the YCH. It extended over a period of 6 months from January 2022 to June 2022. We reviewed the files of patients seen within a period spanning 10 years from January 1st, 2011 to January 31st, December 2021. The study population consisted of patients who had been hospitalized and treated for priapism. We carried out consecutive and non-exhaustive sampling. Results: During the study, we collected data from the medical files of 13 patients. The median age was 25 years, with extremes of 12 and 82 years. Most of the patients were between 20 and 30 years old (38.5%). Most of the patients were single (69.2%). Sickle cell disease was the main comorbidity encountered during the study (76.9%). The median time from onset of symptoms to consultation was 10 [6 - 20.5] hours, with extremes of 1 and 264 hours. All patients presented with painful penile erection (100%). There was concomitant multifocal pain in 38.5% of cases suggestive of vaso-occlusive crises (VOC). The symptoms occurred in a non-traumatic context in the majority of cases (92.3%). The T-shunt was the most used surgical technique (84.6%). The median duration of surgery was 36 [35 - 40] minutes with extremes of 25 and 60 minutes, the majority being operated in less than 45 minutes (84.6%). The frequency of postoperative complications was 46.2%, dominated by weak erections/loss of erections (38.5%). The median duration of hospitalisation was 4 [3 - 5.5] days, with extremes 2 and 20 days of hospitalisation. Resumption of sexual activity was reported in 8 patients (61.5%). The time to recovery was mostly greater than 6 weeks (62.5%). Conclusion: Priapism remains a urological emergency. The prognosis depends on the patients’ promptness in consulting. The T-Shunt is an effective surgical technique in the event of failure of medical treatment.