Synechia
Synechia is the medical name for an adhesion between body parts in any area of the body that are not normally adherent . The plural is synechiae. The word comes to us from Greek.[1]
There are some synechiae that are natural. Baby boys are born with the inner foreskin fused with the glans penis by a synechial membrane that is common to both parts.[2]
Penile synechia in childhood
Øster (1968) was a school physician in Denmark where boys are not usually circumcised. Øster conducted regular examinations of school boys from age 6 through age 17 and recorded his results. Øster reported that 63% of 6-7 year old boys; 48% of 10-11 year old boys; and 3% of 16-17 year old boys had a prepuce that was not fully separated.[3] The separation and breakdown and the synechia is natural, normal, spontaneous, and requires no special care. Thorvaldsen & Meyhoff (2005) report about 50 percent of boys can retract their foreskin by age 10.4, thus confirming Øster's report.[4]
References
- ↑
Synechia
, The Free Dictionary, The Free Medical Dictionary. Retrieved 7 October 2019. - ↑
Deibart, GA. The separation of the prepuce in the human penis. Anat Rec. 1933; 57: 387-99. DOI. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ↑ Øster, Jakob. Further fate of the foreskin: incidence of preputial adhesions, phimosis, and smegma among Danish schoolboys. Arch Dis Child. 1 April 1968; 43: 200-3. PMID. PMC. DOI. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ↑ Thorvaldsen, MA; with Meyhoff HH [deprecated REFjournal parameter used: <coauthors> - please use <last2>, etc.]. Phimosis: pathological or physiological?. Ugeskr Læge. 2005; 167(17): 1858-62. PMID. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
