METHODS: A heavily smoking man with a previous history of bladder cancer presented himself to the emergency department 24h after a dog bite degloved his penis. The avulsed skin was necrotic and subsequently excised. Antibiotic treatment was started. A bacterial swab was found positive for canine oral flora. The skin defect was closed using a 1:1 meshed split thickness skin graft from the inner thigh. Smoking cessation was encouraged. At the three month follow up the patient expressed satisfaction with both cosmetic and functional result and was now non-smoking.
CONCLUSIONS: Several approaches to reconstruct penile skin exist. Split thickness skin graft has been lifted as a preferable alternative (Brown and Fryer, 1957; Finical and Arnold, 1999; Paraskevas et al., 2003) [5]. In this case, the avulsed skin was necrotic and could not be used. A 1:1 meshed split-thickness graft was chosen with excellent results.
CONCLUSIONS: 1:1mesh of the graft can be recommended for easy attachment with a good functional and esthetical result. The potential risk of losing intimacy appearance or having to go through repeated procedures in the genital area motivated smoking cessation for this patient.