A somewhat high-level article discussing how using electro-surgery tools on a penis can cause side effects:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-t ... 5898973712

Penis can only take so much electricity, surgeons warn

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by: By Peter Farquhar, Technology Editor

From: news.com.au

July 30, 2010 12:15PM

If you're in line for a late circumcision, there are other options besides electrosurgery. Picutre: Supplied

A GROUP of brave surgeons in Taiwan have been exploring the effects of electricity on penises.

Concerned that blokes worldwide were risking toasted todgers - and obviously not overburdened with willing subjects - the dedicated researchers conducted the experiments on themselves.

Their report, titled "Determination of Human Penile Electrical Resistance and Implication on Safety for Electrosurgery of Penis" is a slightly alarming insight into a field of surgery that at first begs the question: "What's wrong with using a scalpel?"

Surprisingly, electrosurgery is not as er, shocking as it sounds.

Pioneered by Dr William T Bovie in 1914, it's a relatively safe and hygienic method of cutting tissue using highly concentrated electric currents.

The current passes through a loop of fine wire, which can be used to lop off warts and moles and such, or through a fine needle in order to make incisions.

The current is concentrated around the needle tip and dispersed through the body into a large, metalised plate stuck on the patients back with gel.

To cut deeper, the surgeon powers up the needle with a foot pedal or a switch on the tool.

The heat generated by the current simply causes water in the tissue to boil and part, resulting in a "steam envelope" which cuts cleanly and with barely any sense of pressure.

A different current can be used to coagulate the blood in small vessels, meaning surgery is virtually bloodless.

And when it comes to waving cutting instruments anywhere near a patient's penis, the less blood the better - not to mention burns.

Which is where the intrepid men from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in Taiwan come in.

Dr Vincent Tsai told news.com.au that it's not uncommon for patients to choose electrosurgery for penis operations such as circumcisions and the removal of hypospadias.

But to his knowledge, little research had been done into what extent it should be used on penises and just how much electricity a penis could take.

The only way to find out was to attach "surface electrodes the two ends of penis", he said.

Taking into account that not all penises were created equally, the team also noted that the "impedance of the shaft" can be depicted by "some measurement and calculation".

Voltage was applied. Anaesthetic was not.

Dr Tsai said the main concerns with penile electrosurgery was the potential to injure nerve and vessel tissue required for erectile function.

Field cases have found injuries can range from thrombosis to six days of paralysis to three weeks of disability and something called "nerve longitudinal split of axis cylinder".

Dr Tsai's research confirmed all of these and more.

His verdict?

"We would like to remind our colleagues that we should be careful when doing ES on patients' penis," he said.

"Potential and subclinical injury to erectile tissue caused by electrosurgery on the penis cannot be underestimated."

He suggested surgeons consider using less power and for shorter lengths of time. Or just switching to modern laser therapy.

And despite the alarming potential, Dr Tsai said no penises were harmed during the course of the experiment.

The thing that I find odd about this article is the reference to 'removal of hypospadias'. Given that the Journalist has done his best to sensationalise the story it may be down to him and his lack of understanding as to what hypospadias actually is.

For those who do not know it is said to be the most common gential male deformity and is caused when the uretha fails to elongate sufficiently.

Until about the second trimester, the foetus is essentially female as far as the genital arrangement is concerned. At that time the uretha begins to length and the meatus (pee-hole) moves from its position between the legs. Eventually, the uretha reaches the base of the proto-penis and then starts to grow up the underside. As it does this the penis grows around the uretha. When the uretha reaches the tip of the penis the foreskin, which until that time has simply been a frill of skin around the top two thirds of the shaft, grows together completely encircling the glans.

Hypospadias is the condition where the journey of the uretha is arrested for some reason. The meatus can be at almost any point from the base of the scrotum to just below the glans. The foreskin remains as a simple 'frill' around the top of the shaft and the glans has a deep division which is 'blind'. So, how would one remove hypospadias?

And just in case you wonder how I know about this, yes, I was born with hypospadias. In my case not too extreme as the meatus is about the position where the frenum would otherwise have been.

colin (imported) wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2012 11:26 pm Hypospadias is the condition where the journey of the uretha is arrested for some reason. The meatus can be at almost any point from the base of the scrotum to just below the glans. The foreskin remains as a simple 'frill' around the top of the shaft and the glans has a deep division which is 'blind'. So, how would one remove hypospadias?.

You may be being too literal. By "removal" he may just mean "correct" or "cure". i.e. to remove the condition, not to remove a thing.

if your urinary opening is where you frenulum should be do you have to pull back on skin to pee without splashing on yourself?

noobie20 (imported) wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2012 1:47 am if your urinary opening is where you frenulum should be do you have to pull back on skin to pee without splashing on yourself?

There is no skin to pull back. The foreskin is not formed until the uretha has reached the final position. I don't have to worry about splashing myself as where the urine is going to go. Because I wear briefs or boxer briefs my penis is held against my thigh with the meatus underneath. The pressure sometimes causes a partial closing of the meatus resulting in the urine going sideways rather than down.

cool, but at the same time bummer, your glans have always been rubbed against your thigh then?

that must mean your about as sensitive as the average circumcised male so you are not to unusual.

noobie20 (imported) wrote: Fri Sep 28, 2012 4:59 pm cool, but at the same time bummer, your glans have always been rubbed against your thigh then?

that must mean your about as sensitive as the average circumcised male so you are not to unusual.

Can't say about the average circumcised male's sensitivity, but experience has shown that I have more sensation in my big toe than my penis.

I have to say, that's one of the top 10 statements I've ever seen here, Colin.

Heaven forbid he masturbates into a sock