Cyclist endures seven-week erection after crossbar fall
An Irish mountain biker had an erection that lasted for seven weeks after a fall onto his crossbar, according to a report in the Irish Medical Journal.
As reported by Irish cycling website Stickybottle.com, the unnamed 22-year-old sustained a blow to his perineum - "the ‘undercarriage’ area between the scrotum and anus" - leaving him with a condition known as priapism, where an abnormally high flow of blood to the genitals results in a permanent hard-on.
The man endured the problem for before going to Tallaght hospital.
"Medics initially tried to treat the condition with “manual compression” that resulted in the resolution of the erection, but it rapidly returned," the Irish Examiner reported.
A pressure dressing in place for two weeks didn't work either, with the condition recurring once it was taken off.
"Medics eventually treated the man after inserting gel foam and four tiny platinum coils at an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein that supplied blood to the man’s penis," according to the Examiner.
"This reduced the high-flow blood supply to the penis, ending the erection."
One of the medics, consultant intervention radiologist at Tallaght Hospital Ronan Browne, told the Irish Examiner yesterday: “We were very happy with the outcome."
Dr Browne said the patient reported no recurrence of priapism and satisfactory erection and sexual intercourse.
The consultant said that the case was “unusual”.
The man has not been named.
