Twenty Years of Plaque Incision and Grafting for Peyronie’s Disease: A Review of Literature

INTRODUCTION: Plaque incision and grafting (PIG) is indicated for men with complex or severe penile curvature and, despite a multitude of incision types and grafting materials having been used, no individual technique has proven superiority. AIM: To assess outcomes following PIG and to understand the operative technique. METHODS: A systematic review was performed to find all relevant studies reporting on use of the PIG technique to correct curvature resulting from Peyronie’s disease. Studies were included if they had >40 participants, were written in the English language, and no penile prosthesis was implanted. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measures included deformity correction, erectile dysfunction, and degree of penile lengthening/shortening. Secondary outcome measures included satisfaction, reoperation rate, and complications. RESULTS: Twelve studies were included in the quantitative synthesis, which overall report on the results of 1,025 patients. Careful patient selection was critical, with erectile function requiring assessment with the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), subjective patient reports, and consideration of whether erections are pharmacologically aided. There was no evidence of superiority in favor of any particular incision type or grafting material, and absorbable sutures were clearly favored. Postoperatively, 4.6%–67.4% required pharmacologically aided erections and 0–11.8% were completely unable to achieve erections. Successful straightening occurred in 80.0%–96.4%, although there was no consistent definition of success. Penile length was unchanged in 44.2%–95.0%; 88.0%–92.0% of the patients were satisfied, and .7%–4.7% required reoperation. Altered sensation occurred in 2.0%–22.5% of patients, of which 80.0%–100.0% was only a transient loss. All outcomes were heterogeneously reported. There are no clear predictive factors for erectile dysfunction following PIG surgery. No single incision type or grafting material has proven superiority. CONCLUSION: PIG is an effective and safe technique for correction of complex or severe penile curvature in terms of satisfaction, length change, straightening, and complications. Rice PG, Somani BK, Rees RW. Twenty Years of Plaque Incision and Grafting for Peyronie’s Disease: A Review of Literature. Sex Med 2019;7:115–128.