Repetitive male genital self-mutilation: a case report and discussion of possible risk factors.
Male genital self-mutilation is an infrequently reported occurrence in the medical literature. The reports describing such cases have focused mostly on surgical repair. The case reports written from a psychiatric point of view have outlined possible risk factors contributing to this behavior. Typically, reports depict cases of a single episode of self-mutilation. To date, we have found twelve cases that have addressed the specific issue of repeated episodes of genital self-mutilation. In this article, we report the case of a 49-year-old man who succeeded in castrating himself after sequential episodes of genital mutilation. We will review previous cases of repetitive male genital self-mutilation and draw comparisons between those and our patient's case to arrive at common risk factors that may alert the clinician to this type of behavior.
Catalano
Glenn
G
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida, USA. gcatalan@hsc.usf.edu
Catalano
Maria C
MC
Carroll
Kathleen M
KM
D005837:Genitalia, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology*