July 3, 2021: A man in the United Kingdom reported a vertical fracture in his penis during sexual intercourse with his partner. While there are numerous instances of horizontal injuries in men’s private parts, the 40-year-old’s horror became the first-ever documented case of a vertical penile fracture, according to the British Medical Journal.

The man was admitted to the hospital with a 3 cm vertical tear in his penis, and was immediately rushed to the emergency ward. The patient said he suffered the injury after his penis buckled under the pressure of his partner’s perineum, BMJ reported.

The doctors, who worked on this case, said they have never witnessed a case of a vertical penile fracture, and that all of the related injuries were transverse fractures. The doctors found the 3 cm vertical tear after they conducted an MRI scan. However, the rare case, fortunately, did not come with any major disadvantages to the man.

“Interestingly, he described a gradual detumescence, with moderate swelling but no ‘popping’ sensation. Moreover, there was no palpable ‘rolling’ sign on examination,” the BMJ said in its report. BMJ noted that medical photography could not be done due to the prohibition in the wake of Covid-19 restrictions.

Moreover, the doctors found that the man was able to resume sexual activity six months after the injury and had reported erections just like before the accident. However, the doctors said more study is required to arrive at a conclusion whether vertical penile fractures also have the same characteristics as that of traditional transverse injuries. Consequences of a transverse penile fracture include popping sensation, gross ecchymosis and a palpable rolling defect.

According to the British Medical Journal, 88.5 percent of penile fractures occur during sexual intercourse with the two main etiological positions being ‘man on top’ and ‘doggy style’. Masturbation and sleeping prone have lesser chances of leading to penis injury.