An unnamed Taiwanese, 52 was forced to have half his penis amputated after enduring a week-long erection. He admitted to doctors that his erection began randomly and not due to any sexual stimulation.
The man decided to seek medical attention only when the pain in his penis became unbearable and it felt like it was about to explode. Doctors, said that the erection was triggered by bladder cancer, after th eamn ignored warnings three years previously.
According to experts any erection that lasts for more than four hours is deemed to be a medical emergency. The condition is called priapism.
Surgeons at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, in south-western Taiwan, found the cancer had spread too far and decided to amputate part of it. The man is now recovering from the agonising operation, and will begin courses of chemotherapy as soon as he is deemed fit enough.
Dr Wang Hung-jen, head of the hospital's urology department, said the cancer had obstructed the blood vessels in the man's penis.
He led the operation on the unnamed man and cut into both his penis and bladder to try and relieve some of the pain.
On whether his patient was likely ever to have sex again, Dr Wang said: "He isn't married and didn't request an evaluation of potential sexual function.
