Penile Straightening (Plication) Postoperative Instructions

Surgical Site

• You will wake up with a dressing wrapped around your penis. We want you to maintain this dressing for the next 48 hours. Blood spotting from the incision is expected and is not cause for alarm. All stitches on the skin will dissolve on their own.
• You may want to gently apply a small amount of antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin to the incision to prevent it from sticking to the scrotal skin or underpants.
• You may apply ice packs (can be a zip-loc bag with ice or frozen peas / vegetables) to your penile area for the next 48 hours intermittently for no longer than 20 minutes at a time while you are awake.

Diet

Begin with clear liquids. Avoid any heavy meals on the day of the procedure. Depending on how you feel the next day, you may resume your normal diet the day of surgery. Follow a healthy diet to promote healing. Drink plenty of water.

Bathing

You can shower approximately 48 hours after your surgery. During showering, avoid scrubbing your surgical site for one week (you can allow soap and water to run over all the incisions). Do not submerge underwater for 4 weeks (i.e. no bathtub or swimming pool).

Activity

Minimize activity for one to two days after your surgery. Light activity such as walking around your home every few hours is encouraged. After the first few days, you may slowly advance your activity. This includes driving and returning to work if you are no longer taking narcotic pain medications. Avoid any heavy lifting more than 10 pounds (4.5 kg) or strenuous physical activities altogether for 4 weeks (no running, elliptical, swimming, or extensive cardiovascular exercise) unless otherwise instructed by your surgeon. Then gradually resume regular activity. Avoid straddle activities (biking, motorcycle, tractor, horse riding) for 4 weeks.

Avoid all sexual activity for six weeks after your surgery or until cleared by your surgeon. You may still experience spontaneous or night time/morning erections.

Medication

You can obtain good pain relief by taking two acetaminophen (Tylenol) every 4-6 hours for the first several days. You may also get a prescription for pain pills which you may use in addition to acetaminophen every four hours. Do not take more than 3000 mg acetaminophen per day.

You may take an anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) tabs every 4-6 hours in addition to acetaminophen. This combination has been shown to decrease the number of pain pills needed to be comfortable as well as decreases swelling and inflammation. Your doctor may prescribe a different anti-inflammatory which you can take as directed.

Avoid constipation

Anesthesia and prescription pain medication can make you constipated. Straining to have a bowel movement can harm the surgery site. Be sure to avoid constipation by taking plenty of fiber and water. As needed, you may take over the counter medications such as docusate (Colace), senna (SennaGen or Senokot), bisacodyl (Dulcolax), polyethylene glycol (Miralax), mineral oil, magnesium hydroxide (Milk of Magnesia). You may use over the counter suppositories such as bisacodyl (Dulcolax) or enema such as tap water or sodium phosphate (Fleets).

Follow-up appointment: You should be scheduled for a postoperative appointment about 1-2 weeks after your surgery. Please call the office to schedule if you don't have an appointment.

Call the office or come to the ER for:

• Fevers > 101 F (38.3 C).
• Any pain not controlled by pain medication provided.
• Large separation of incision line.
• Spreading redness from incision or blackened appearance of penis.
• Any concerns or problems, please contact us at the numbers listed above.