title: Treatment of phimosis with topical steroids and foreskin anatomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To correlate topical steroidal treatment of stenosed foreskin with the different degrees of glans exposure and the length of time the ointment is applied.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 95 patients with phimosis, divided according to the degree of foreskin retraction. Group A presented no foreskin retraction, group B presented exposure of only the urethral meatus, group C presented exposure of half of the glans, and group D presented exposure of the glans, which was incomplete because of preputial adherences to the coronal sulcus. Patients were submitted to application of 0.05% betamethasone ointment on the distal aspect of the prepuce twice daily for a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 4 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 95 patients, 10 (10.52%) abandoned the treatment and 15 patients in groups C and D were excluded from the study. Among the remaining 70 patients, only 4 patients (5.7%) in group A did not obtain adequate glans exposure after treatment. In group A (38 patients), fully retractable foreskins were obtained in 19 patients (50%) after 1 month of treatment. In group B (28 patients), fully retractable foreskins were obtained in 18 patients (64.2%) after 1 month.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment was successful in 94.2% of patients, irrespective of the type of foreskin anatomy. The improvement may require several months of treatment. Patients with impossibility of urethral meatus exposure present around 10% treatment failure.
authors.affiliation: Urogenital Research Unit, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tatiana C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Francisco J B
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Sampaio
authors.forename: Luciano A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Favorito
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001623:Betamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010688:Phimosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D001623:Betamethasone