The old adage ‘bad things come in threes’ has rung true for one unlucky patient who had a rare penile fracture involving all three erectile bodies and urethral damage. 

The 36-year-old man in Moshi, Tanzania, presented to hospital with penile swelling, pain and bleeding five hours after the injury occurred during sexual intercourse. 

After receiving analgesia from a nearby clinic, he was referred to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, where the case authors noted a swollen and “twisted” circumcised penis with blood on the external urethral meatus. 

He told doctors he heard a sudden ‘snap’ followed by a rapid loss of erection when the penis slipped out during intercourse and hit the perineal area of his female partner.