Influx of patients in A&E with broken penises, painful erections and caffeine poisoning, NHS data shows
HOSPITALS saw a surge in patients with issues like broken penises and painful erections last year, data shows.
NHS A&Es were hit with an influx of people with “delicate” medical emergencies, analysis of official figures found.
Some 18,592 people went to hospitals with “penis problems” in 2022 to 2023, up more than a third on the previous year.
The number of patients with “vagina problems” also increased 30 per cent to 20,675, while more than 1,500 people turned up to A&E with a “foreign object” in their rectums.
Dr Adrian Boyle, of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “People attend A&Es with an array of issues, including some potentially embarrassing problems.
“Staff are trained to approach these problems confidentially and with respect.
“It is vital that if patients are concerned about something and feel they need urgent or emergency care, they should come to A&E.”
He added: “We don’t want patients with potentially important problems to feel deterred.
“Some symptoms may be signs of a more serious problem, and coming to A&E may be what is needed to diagnose that and receive the necessary and appropriate treatment.”
The data shows some 432 men were seen in emergency rooms for a “fracture of the penis” — up a quarter on the 346 recorded the year before.
The injury, known medically as rupture of corpus cavernosum, is uncommon but can occur when a man is erect.
Some 373 men were also treated for priapism, a painful, prolonged erection of the penis, last year, up 9 per cent on the previous year.
The condition can cause permanent damage if it does not go away on its own and is left untreated for too long.
The figures also show there were 1,502 attendances for “foreign body in rectum” and 5,421 people attended due to a “foreign body in the vagina”.
Previous figures have shown the objects can include beer bottles, toothbrushes, carrots and wine corks.
There was also an almost eight-fold rise in people seeking emergency care due to “caffeine poisoning”.
A total of 142 people sought help for caffeine toxicity in 2022/23, compared to just 18 the year before.
Dr Tim Cooksley, of the Society for Acute Medicine, added: “This data further shows the diversity of presentations that NHS teams manage every day.
“Fundamentally, these patients have urgent conditions that need timely, respectable care.
“This cannot be achieved in overwhelmed urgent and emergency care environments which are extremely distressing for patients.”