Penile Oxygen Saturation in Japanese Men Before and After Robot-assisted Radical Prostatectomy

The aim of this study was to investigate changes in penile oxygen saturation in Japanese patients before and after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP).

The present study included 33 Japanese patients who underwent RARP between June 2018 and February 2024. Tissue oxygen saturation (StO₂) was measured in the glans, bilateral corpora, and both thighs before and after surgery using Toccare™, a tissue oximeter.

Nerve-sparing procedures were achieved as follows: right side, 16 patients (48.5%); left side, 11 (33.3%); bilateral, 4 (12.1%); none, 2 (6.1%). In all patients, no significant difference was observed in StO₂ in the bilateral thighs before and after surgery, whereas a significant decrease was noted in the glans and bilateral corpora after surgery. StO₂ in the glans and bilateral corpora significantly decreased in 20 patients in the right-side nerve-sparing group and 15 in the left-side nerve-sparing group, and nerve-sparing procedures did not correlate with changes in StO₂.

StO₂ in the glans and bilateral corpora decrease after RARP irrespective of whether a nerve-sparing procedure is performed.