Eleven years of experience with the inflatable penile prosthesis

The 11-year experience with 395 consecutive patients in whom an inflatable prosthesis was implanted for the treatment of chronic erectile impotence is reported. Among these patients the most common etiology was vascular disease, followed by diabetes mellitus and radical pelvic surgery. The original American Medical Systems prosthesis with PPT cylinders shows a 61 per cent complication and revision rate with followup from 3 to 11 years. The newer inflatable prostheses manufactured since 1983 have needed revision in only 13 per cent of the patients followed to 4 years. Salvage procedures and increased product reliability have resulted in 97 per cent of the patients being satisfied. Five types of inflatable prostheses are compared and advantages are discussed.