Clinical Outcome: Patient and Partner Satisfaction after Penile Implant Surgery

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common disorder, which affects at least 50% of males aged 50-70 years. According to EAU Guidelines on male sexual dysfunction, implantation of an inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) is a valid, third-line therapeutic option for treatment of ED.

We conducted a retrospective single centre study to analyze mechanical reliability, complication rate, patient satisfaction and quality of life after penile prosthesis implantation.

A total of 126 electronic patient files after primary implantation of an IPP during a 5-year period were investigated. A structured telephone interview concerning patient and partner satisfaction was conducted at least 1 year after implant surgery.

We found that 15 patients (11.9%) had revision surgery for various reasons. Mechanical failure occurred in 7.14% of the patients and was the main reason for revision surgery. Other major complications and complaints were loss of penile length (18.53%), postoperative pain (11.9%) and altered sensation (8.73%). No patients required explantation for infection, and 1 patient (0.79%) underwent revision surgery for an imminent erosion. One year or more after surgery, the patient and partner satisfaction rates, were 83.2 and 85.4%, respectively. We observed very high patient and partner satisfaction rates for the implantation of an IPP, with improvement of the general quality of life. These rates are negatively influenced by the occurrence of postoperative complications and complaints such as postoperative penile length shortening, pain and floppy glans syndrome. Most patients regain sexual function 6 weeks after surgery with no or minimal effect on the orgasm.

The implantation of a 3-piece IPP has proven an effective, third-line treatment for patients with ED.