PIckled penis

One of my preceptors recently taught me about a physical exam that was commonly done in the late 1980s: androscopy. It's an exam aimed at finding and treating HPV warts on the male genitalia. It is analogous to a (cervical) colposcopy in women.

The male is undressed from the waist down and lies on the exam table with feet in stirrups - similar to a woman undergoing a pelvic exam. The genitals (penis, scrotum, perineum) are wrapped gauze soaked with vinegar for five minutes and then inspected with the naked eye and with the colposcope (a special microscope). Lesions, if present, may be excised, cauterized (acid or freezing), or laser vapourized.

Interestingly, a pub med search has revealed that 51-65% of men who were clinically asymptomatic had lesions on their genitals when viewed under the microscope. However, up to 20% would continue to be seropositive for HPV even with negative follow-up colposcope exams; suggesting that androscopy was not eradicating the disease from the male population. For that reason, and because penile cancer is a very rare complication of male HPV, the exam was largely abandoned as routine practice.

It may come back into favour for the rectum, however, as anal cancer rates increase. Just as we now recommend screening anal pap smears for persons practicing anal intercourse, a vinegar anoscopy of the anus would be a logical follow up exam for a positive result.

For the men out there - yes, they put vinegar on the cervix for a colposcopy.