A MAN’S penis rotted from the inside after he shoved three batteries up his urethra, medics have revealed.
The 73-year-old Australian waited a whole day before seeking medical attention because he couldn’t get the 1cm-wide button batteries back out.
He told doctors he had put them in there for “self-gratification purposes” and hadn’t suffered issues with the act in the past.
But after 24 hours, the batteries were starting to cause him “moderate pain”, as well as making his foreskin severely tight and causing issues with peeing.
Dr Brendan Akihiko Yanada, of Western Health in Victoria, said the battery acid had leaked and already caused necrosis — when tissue starts to rot.
He said: “To the best of our understanding, this is the first reported case of urethral necrosis with button battery insertion.
“Our case demonstrates the damaging effects that button batteries can cause and the need for emergent removal to prevent further tissue injury and long-term complications.
“Button batteries are corrosive and tissue liquefaction and necrosis can occur within two hours.”
Necrotising fasciitis, also known as “flesh-eating disease”, is a rare and life-threatening condition that can happen when a wound gets infected.
The Royal College of Surgeons in England estimate around 500 cases occur in the UK every year.
NHS figures show medics had to operate on 169 injured penises in the 12 months up to April 2022, up 37 per cent on the previous year.
In the latest shocking case, reported in Urology Case Reports, doctors found the man’s urethra had been stained black by the batteries.
Doctors tried to remove the items using forceps and other tools but the man “struggled to tolerate the procedure and this was abandoned”, they said.
He was put under general anaesthesia and medics were able to successfully remove them, finding they were coated with a “black tar-like material”.
They gave him a two-week supply of antibiotics and he was discharged after three days after recovering from the operation.
But he came back 10 days later after his penis had become swollen and discharge started appearing in his urethra.
They operated on the organ again, finding an 8cm section of dead tissue in the shaft that had to be removed.
He was advised against penile reconstruction because of the complexity of the injury and was given a catheter to help him urinate.
Signs of necrosis include:
Source: Cleveland Clinic
