Severe ischemia of the glans penis following circumcision: a successful treatment via pentoxifylline

Abstract

Severe ischemia or necrosis of glans penis is rare. We report the case of an 11-year-old boy with severe glanular ischemia occurring 24 h after circumcision. This was successfully treated with pentoxifylline injection for 5 days, and while the black color of the glans penis changed to brownish at 48 h, appearances were close to normal at 5 days. The patient did not require any surgical intervention, and was discharged without sequelae. We suggest that pentoxifylline might be considered as a treatment of choice for severe ischemia of glans penis.