GOUT forced a man to have part of his penis removed, medics have revealed.
Symptoms of the disease — made famous by King Henry VIII — appeared on the “unusual location” of his manhood, they said.
GettyA man with gout had to have part of his penis removed because symptoms had appeared on it[/caption]
The 40-year-old had suffered swelling around his member for two years before he went to Hospital of Cook County in Chicago.
Doctors diagnosed him with the surprising condition and his foreskin and other affected areas were removed in surgery.
Dr Mustafa Farooqi, of Rush University, said: “Gouty tophi in the penis is exceptionally rare.
“Therefore, no specific, standard treatment currently exists.
“In cases where medical treatment with a uricosuric or allopurinol fails and symptoms persist, surgical removal may be considered as was done in this case.”
Around 1.5million Brits are thought to live with gout, according to Arthritis Action.
The disease is a type of arthritis that causes sudden joint pain in attacks that last up to a week.
It can run in families and is especially common in men, as well as people that are overweight, drink too much alcohol and eat a lot of fatty foods like meat.
Symptoms include hot, swollen, red skin over a joint — usually your big toe, but it can affect feet, hands, wrists, elbows or knees, the NHS says.
Your GP can test your blood for a chemical called uric acid, which can lead to crystals forming around your joints, causing the pain.
You can treat it with anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen or may be prescribed steroids if the attack is especially bad.
It’s rare to suffer chronic gout, which can cause tiny white lumps called tophi to appear under your skin, usually on your ears, fingers or elbows.
The latest case, reported in the Elsevier journal Urology Case Reports, was an extremely uncommon instance of suffering the lumps on a penis.
He had been diagnosed with gout six weeks earlier, when the bumps appeared on other parts of his body.
Other medics gave him a standard course of treatment for gout but it did not impact the lumps on his penis.
They made retracting the foreskin difficult and he said sex was painful.
Doctors decided to operate on the organ and removed the affected parts under anaesthesia and he has since recovered.