AlloDerm has by far and away become the most popular way to enhance penile girth.  Sure we lived through the liposuctioned fat transfer years with the lumps and bumps and reabsorption and inevitable touch ups. and then dermal-fat strips for phalloplasty with the harvesting scars, our were neater than most have seen, especially those 1/2 inch wide violacious bands of Zoro on the lower mid back which fortunately the patient doesn’t have to see everyday.  “Dr. Reed, please mail me a copy of the photo you just took, I want to show it to my doctor.”

With AlloDerm you don’t have to worry about atrophy and fibrosis, as long as you don’t stack it, it’s already dead.  It is a sterile dermal matrix.  Cells of your own making will grow into it.  If a dermal-fat graft doesn’t get an optimal vascular hookup within the first five days, the final result can be anywhere from necrosis in an extreme example to length contracture with palpable tethers (fibrosis)  to fat atrophy.  I started out with a 6 1/2 penis and now have only 5 inches?

Oh, we’ll put some AlloDerm, over that.   Not such a good idea.   If there is a poor blood supply, the AlloDerm will not work.  AlloDerm always works best when it is supported on both sides by a rich vascular bed.

That is the key to tissue ingrowth.   That is the difference between a reach for the moon operation on the penis and phalloplasty performed by a phalloplasty surgeon.  Our phalloplasty pictures are available on our web-site, befores and afters.  Please be sure to click Next Photos (below each photo) for the whole gallery.

Harold M. Reed, M.D. FICS

305-865-2000

Dr.Reed,

My name is Stan. I am a 55 years old and very fit.  Approx 10 years I underwent lengthening and widening with dermal grafts. I was 5 7/8 erect and 4 1/2 girth. I am now 7 X 5 3/4 midshaft. As my wife likes girth and I am tired of using the pump. I am considering girth enhancement with alloderm.  The dermal seems to have decreased from just under the head to approx midshaft.  Can alloderm be used in conjunction with already placed dermal? As I want no more than 3/4 - 1″, to take out the dermal and replace with alloderm would make my girth less than it is now.  Also, how many sheets of allo do you typically use and what is the size of a sheet. 
 
Any information would be greatly appreciated. 

 

 

 

Hi Stan, 

 

We had had experience with AlloDerm for almost 10 years now and before that we did dermal-fat grafts, and before that transfer of liposuctioned of fat (autologous fat transfer or AFT) .  As a phalloplasty surgeon I evolved into the AlloDerm because it seems to be the most predictable performer.  Liposuctioned fat transfer can result in uniform or zonal reabsorption and the formation of fibro-fatty nodules or lumps under the skin. 

Dermal-fat grafts are living and in order for them to survive as soft as one might feel under the skin before surgery, they do need to pick up a sufficient blood supply.  Otherwise they will undergo some degree of atrophy which translates into fibrosis, the lowest common denominator of wound healing before necrosis.  Fibrous grafts tend to lose of course the original girth as the fat cells die off first, but worse yet they contract and result in shortened penile length. 

AlloDerm is a cadaveric product, and has no immediate biological requirements such as early re-vascularization.  If your dermal-fat graft in the distal shaft is not bothering you, you could consider Allo-Derm placed over it.  If it is truly fibrous, I would remove it, as AlloDerm should rest between a sandwich of healthy well vascularized tissue for a good take. 

We use extra-thick AlloDerm but avoid stacking sheets as this can predispose to a wound infection.  There is no blood supply whatsoever between the layers, and all it takes is a small amount of skin bacteria  which healthy tissue can repress.  The thicker a man’s penis is when he sees me, the less impact visually one extra thick layer of AlloDerm has.  Think of “a drop in the ocean.”  For men who have not had previous girth enhancement, we say about a 3/4″ increase in circumference.

Your circumference of 5 3/4 is OK and you may wish to rest on your laurels.  Most likely with AlloDerm you will get up to 6 or more inches.  In cosmetic surgery there is an expression, “less is more,” meaning that overdoing things can lead to complications.

Please do see phalloplasty before and after photos and images on our web-site.  The phalloplasty cost is also mentioned.

 

Hope this addresses your questions.  

Best wishes,

Harold M. Reed, M.D.

305-865-2000                                                                                                                   

 

 

 

Last week, a man who had an adult circumcison a few years ago had a penile lengthening procedure and we noted puckers on the underside of the penis, like little skin ears. 

This happens when the tissue from either side is not gathered or approximated evenly and in this case was corrected just by removing the puckers down to skin level and putting in a few stitches of rapidly absorable suture material.

We like to apply Sur-Strips over this area to splint the closure, less stress and better wound healing.

Harold M. Reed

In a few days,

What a loss and how does this happen and what can be done?  In this particular patient I pulled on the head of the penis and the tips were not in the mid glans but at the distal shaft, a loss of 1/2 to 3/4″ right there.  Had an expandable implant been installed with usage the patient might have gained another 1/2 inch.

When inappropriately short implants are used, the penis may just scar down to a smaller size and the only remedy is to try traction before another procedure or a penile lengthening surgical technique which can vary from pubic dermatolipectomy, release of the suspensory ligament, or release of the neruro-vascular bundle and urethra and apply a patch graft to help extend the corpora.  This is very advanced and risk laden surgery as opposed to simply installing an expander cylinder, but requested by a very insistent patient.

Being a phalloplasty sugeon, we have several phalloplasty before and after phalloplasty photos and phalloplasty images on our web-site along with phalloplasty costs.  Augmentation phalloplasty is highly specialized surgery.

Harold Reed, M.D.