Long-term follow-up of sensation recovery of the penis reconstructed by Cheng's method.

BACKGROUND Cheng's method, a new surgical method for penile reconstruction in which the original glans or the residual penile stump is transferred to the anterior portion of the newly reconstructed penile body with microsurgical techniques, was first introduced in 1997. The purpose of this article was to show the recovery of sensation of the reconstructed penis. METHODS A long-term follow-up of 27 patients undergoing penile reconstruction using Cheng's method was performed. Nerve repair between the dorsal nerve of the penis, the lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve, and the dorsal nerve of the penis was performed for innervation. Four measurements for tactile sensation assessment were performed. RESULTS The mean follow-up was 10.3 years and the mean age of the patients was 25.7 years. The sensation of the distal part of the reconstructed penis (glans or the residual penile stump) was similar to the preoperative one (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in sensation between the unoperated forearm and the postoperative flap (proximal part of the neophallus), except in two-point discrimination, in which the neophallus was better (p < 0.01). In the reconstructed penis, the distal part had better two-point discrimination than the proximal part (p < 0.01). Compared with our other group of penises reconstructed by free radial forearm flaps, the distal part with Cheng's method had superior pain perception (p < 0.01), vibratory threshold (p < 0.05), and two-point discrimination (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION Cheng's method of penile reconstruction provides good sensation to the reconstructed penis, especially in the neoglans, in transferring either the original glans or the residual penile stump.