Penile Pain: Or something else? Differential Diagnosis

Cardiovascular (I00-I99).

  • Hemorrhoids, inflamed

Infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99).

  • Schistosomiasis – worm disease (tropical infectious disease) caused by trematodes (sucking worms) of the genus Schistosoma (couple flukes).
  • Erysipelas (erysipelas) – bacterial skin infection.
  • Herpes simplex
  • Herpes zoster (shingles)
  • Tuberculosis of the urinary tract

Mouth, esophagus (food pipe), stomach and intestines (K00-K67; K90-K93).

Neoplasms – tumor diseases (C00-D48).

  • Anus carcinoma (cancer of the anus)
  • Urinary bladder carcinoma (urinary bladder cancer)
  • Penile carcinoma (penile cancer)
  • Prostate carcinoma (prostate cancer)
  • Rectal carcinoma (rectal cancer)

Genitourinary system (kidneys, urinary tract – reproductive organs) (N00-N99).

  • Acute urethritis (inflammation of the urethra).
  • Acute cystitis (inflammation of the urinary bladder)
  • Balanitis (acorn inflammation); allergic, bacterial, mycotic).
  • Urethral stricture (urethral narrowing).
  • Urinary calculus, unspecified (localization: ureter/ureter, urethra/urethral).
  • Hard frenulum
  • Induratio penis plastica (IPP, lat. induratio “hardening”, synonym: Peyronie’s disease) – areal proliferation of connective tissue (plaques), mainly present on the dorsum of the penis, with an increasing hardening of the penile shaft; disease of the corpus cavernosum: scar tissue (coarse plaques), especially in the area of the tunica albuginea (connective tissue sheath around the corpora cavernosa), leads to abnormal penile curvature with retractions and pain during erection.
  • Paraphimosis – strangulation or entrapment of the glans penis due to phimosis (constricted foreskin). Paraphimosis is a urological emergency.
  • Phimosis (narrowing of the foreskin).
  • Priapism – erection that lasts > 4 h without sexual stimulation; 95% of cases ischemic or low-flow priapism (LFP), which is very painful; LFP can lead to irreversible erectile dysfunction after only 4 h; therapy: blood aspiration and possibly intracavernosal (i.c.) sympathomimetic injection; “high-flow” priapism (HFP) does not require immediate measures.
  • Prostate abscess – encapsulated collection of pus in the area of the prostate gland.
  • Prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate)
  • Tuberculosis (consumption) of the urinary tract.

Injuries, poisonings and other consequences of external causes (S00-T98).

  • Foreign body, unspecified
  • Penile injuries, unspecified (e.g., torn frenulum/foreskin frenulum; penile fracture/tearing of the erectile tissue of the penis)