A man who claimed that he suffered loss of sexual function after suffering an erection that lasted 53 hours filed a Virginia medical malpractice case against an emergency room physician whom he claimed breached the standard of care in failing to properly and timely diagnose and treat his severe testicular pain and his painful erection.
The man was 33-years-old on February 11, 2019 when he was transported by ambulance to a hospital emergency room due to severe pain in his groin. The ambulance crew noted that the man had “testicle pain acute onset around 6 a.m.” The ER records stated that the man had pain in his scrotum and groin along with painful urination that had begun that morning. The man alleged that he had a prolonged erection when he presented in the ER but the ER records did not state such.
The ER medical staff performed a physical exam and ordered a testicular ultrasound, which was reported as normal. The formal diagnosis was urethritis. The man was prescribed antibiotics and was discharged to home.
The man returned to the ER two days later, on February 13, 2019, with complaints of continuing groin pain and a painful erection lasting 53 hours. He was diagnosed with priapism and then transferred to another hospital where he underwent surgery that was unsuccessful and left him with erectile dysfunction – he is now impotent, he cannot maintain an erection, he claimed permanent disfigurement, and he alleged that he is unable to perform any “meaningful conjugal act.”
The man filed his Virginia medical malpractice lawsuit, claiming that there was a breach of the standard of care in the ER by failing to timely diagnose and treat his priapism during the February 11, 2019 ER visit.
The Virginia medical malpractice case was tried over three days, after which the jury returned a defense verdict.
Priapism
Priapism is defined as an abnormal persistent erection of the penis. It is usually painful and it is unrelated to sexual stimulation and unrelieved by ejaculation. Priapism is frequently idiopathic in etiology but it is a known complication of a number of important medical conditions and pharmacologic agents.
Priapism must be identified as either low-flow (ischemic) or high-flow (nonischemic), because the causes and treatments for these 2 types are different. Low-flow priapism, which is by far the most common type, results from failure of the detumescence mechanism, whereas high-flow priapism results from uncontrolled arterial inflow, often through fistulas caused by genitourinary trauma.
Treatment of low-flow priapism should progress in a stepwise fashion, starting with therapeutic aspiration, with or without irrigation, or intracavernous injection of a sympathomimetic agent. Treatment of high-flow priapism focuses on identification and obliteration of fistulas.
Priapism is a true urologic emergency that may lead to permanent erectile dysfunction and penile necrosis if left untreated. Early intervention allows the best chance for functional recovery – as with many medical emergencies, the saying “time is tissue” holds true for priapism.
If you or a loved one suffered harm as a result of medical negligence in Virginia or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Virginia medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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