Balanoposthitis

Excerpt

Balanoposthitis is a relatively common condition affecting pediatric and adult men who are uncircumcised. This condition is an inflammation affecting the glans penis and prepuce. Many etiologies exist, but they can generally be classified as either infectious, irritative, or traumatic in origin. Balanoposthitis is separate and distinct from balanitis, which refers to inflammation of the glans penis, while posthitis refers to inflammation of the prepuce. This review focuses on balanoposthitis; see StatPearls' companion topic "Balanitis" for further information.

At birth, the prepuce, commonly referred to as the foreskin, is attached by adhesions to the glans. These nonpathological adhesions are responsible for physiologic phimosis or decreased ability to retract the foreskin in neonates. These physiological neonatal adhesions and phimoses normally disappear by adolescence. Hsieh et al found that 17.1% of first-grade boys had physiologic phimosis, which decreased to 1.2% by seventh grade in a cohort of healthy children in Taiwan. "Pathologic phimosis" refers to an inability to retract the foreskin secondary to scarring of the prepuce.