(258) The History of Peyronie’s Disease Surgery: From the Forgotten Pioneers to the Modern Surgeons

Introduction Although earlier references to penile curvature exist, Peyronie’s disease was first described in 1743 by François Gigot de La Peyronie. While the condition remained relatively obscure for the next 3 centuries, what is now recognized as Peyronie's Disease (PD), characterized by acquired penile curvature, was intermittently observed and documented by physicians in the centuries leading up to its re-discovery by other authors. Although publications from the the XIX and earlier XX Century had describe successful corrections of acquired penile curvature, these publications have been lost in time for the modern authors. Objective To summarise the evolution of early surgical techniques for Peyronie’s Disease (PD) by retrieving and analysing historical reports of surgical interventions from the XIX to the XXI century. Methods A Pubmed search for the terms "Peyronie's disease," "penile plication," "Induratio Penis Plastica," and "surgical treatment" was conducted as of April 2025. Studies providing detailed description of surgical techniques were included, while non-surgical and duplicate publications were excluded. Reference lists of selected studies were reviewed to identify other relevant publications not listed in the original search. Abstracts in multiple languages were reviewed using artificial intelligence (GoogleTM translate) for English translations. Accessing early literature posed challenges due to limited digitization, informal citations, and varied terminology describing PD Results The results were divided into four periods reflecting the evolution of surgical management for Peyronie's disease: Early PD Surgery (1800s-1939), dominated by excision; Mid 20th Century (1940-1969), where excision was common but grafting and penile prostheses emerged; Late 20th century (1970-1999), introducing plications, modeling, and transitioning to incisional surgeries with grafting; and the 21st century (2000-Current), featuring lengthening and minimal incision procedures. Conclusions Over the centuries, the surgical management of Peyronie’s Disease (PD) has progressed significantly, transitioning from the excision of fibrotic and ossified tissue to contemporary, less invasive techniques informed by advances in anatomical and biomechanical understanding. Many early pioneers in this field proposed innovative approaches that were subsequently forgotten, only to be re-thought later and presented as novel due to restricted access to their original work. In the modern era, the availability of digital public libraries, open-access archives, and artificial intelligence tools has enabled researchers to locate, access, and translate these foundational texts. This study seeks to recover and highlight the contributions of these "unsung" pioneers surgeons, reintegrating their work into the historical and scientific discourse, acknowledging their work. Disclosure No