Penile Nomogram in Korean Males

Park, Kwanjin; Kim, Soo Woong; Lee, Hae Won; Lee, Eun Sik; Lee, Chong Wook; Kim, Si Whang; Paick, Jae Seung

Abstract

PURPOSE: The definition of normal penile length is of considerable importance to urologist who is asked to perform penile augmentation surgery, because such knowledge will lead to better counseling about the relation between penile size in the flaccid and erect states and to develop guidelines for penile augmentation.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
Tape measurements of the flaccid and erect penis were obtained to the nearest 0.5 cm in 309 Korean men by a single examiner. Measurements were made of flaccid length and circumference, depth of the prepubic fat pad, and stretched penile length. After full erection had been obtained by self-stimulation or injection of prostaglandin E, penile length and circumference were measured again.
RESULTS
The mean flaccid and erectile length were 7.78+/-1.19 cm and 11.88+/-1.32 cm, respectively. The stretched length demonstrated a more predictable relation to erectile length than flaccid length than flaccid length (Pearson correlation coefficient, R=0.648:0.549). Subjects were grouped by age ad over and under 40 years to study the effect of age on fat pad depth, flaccid length, stretched length, and erectile length increase. Only erectile length increase differed significantly, being greater in younger subjects(ANOVA, p=0.03). When the subjects were grouped by flaccid length as short(< OR =6.5cm), medium (6.5~9 cm), and long (> OR =9 cm), we discovered that a penis that was long in the flaccid state remained long in the erect state. However, there were no statistical differences in erect length among three groups. In other words, we cannot predict the erect length on the bais of the flaccid value.
CONCLUSIONS
To define guidelines for penile augmentation, we can choose the cut-off value of 5 cm(flaccid) and 9 cm (erect) based on statistical considerations. Only 1.1% of the patients in our series were below this cut-off value. Thus, it is concluded that only a small number of Korea men should be candidates for penile augmentation.