Is there any advantage in the use of absorbable sutures in congenital penile curvature surgery performed in childhood?

Objective

To compare the long-term outcomes of corporeal plication using absorbable versus nonabsorbable sutures for the treatment of congenital penile curvature in childhood.

Materials and methods

Forty seven children who underwent congenital penile curvature repair between 11 and 140 months of age were included in the study. All children were operated on using the incisional plication technique and were divided into two groups: Absorbable-polyglactine (PLG, n = 23, 48.93%) and nonabsorbable-polypropilen (PP, n = 24, 51.06%) according to the suture material used for plication. Surgical outcomes were compared between groups.

Results

Mean follow-up period was 19.02 ± 4.66 months. There was no significant difference between the mean age of the children in two groups included in the study (PLG = 41.39 ± 34.63 months vs PP = 53.66 ± 37.42 months, p = 0.250). There was no significant difference in penile straightening degree between the two groups in the postoperative follow-up (PLG = 27.39 ± 6.88 vs PP = 31.08 ± 6.38, p = 0.06). Similarly, there was no significant difference between two groups in terms of postoperative curvature recurrence (p = 0.681). However, palpable suture knots in the plication area was significantly higher in the PP group in the postoperative period (25.0% vs 4.3%, p = 0.047).

Conclusion

The use of absorbable sutures in congenital penile curvature surgery in childhood has similar success rates with the use of nonabsorbable sutures and provides lower complications that are secondary to nonabsorbable sutures.