Penile vein ligation for venogenic impotence

We have performed penile vein ligation on 35 patients with venogenic impotence from July 1989 to December 1991. The criteria for surgery were (1) age less than 60 years; (2) negative vasoactive agent intracavernous injection but normal penile arterial function, and (3) abnormal venous leakage documented by dynamic infusion cavernosometry and cavernosography. The procedure in venous ligation is excision of the deep dorsal vein from coronary sulcus to pubic arch, and ligation of cavernous veins after identification. The average follow-up was 27.5 months (range 12-37 months) for 30 patients. The 2 patients who revealed no erection at all immediately after operation had dense adhesion of penile hilar region caused in one case by severe pelvic trauma and in the other by pubic bone fracture. Twenty-eight (93.3%) patients were found to sustain excellent erection within 3 months postoperatively. However, only 12 (40.0%) patients sustained spontaneous erection at long-term follow-up, while another 7 (23.3%) responded to intracavernous injection. It is worth mentioning that tortuous and marked dilation of the deep dorsal vein and/or cavernous veins were found intraoperatively in 6 patients who were observed to have excellent erections postoperatively. Inadequate elimination of the leakage veins, especially crural veins, is the most likely factor in those who had a recurrence of erectile dysfunction. However, the corpus cavernosum, particularly a myopathic condition or inadequate neurotransmitters, also plays an important role. Complications included shortness of penis (3 patients), penile deviation (3), numbness of glans penis (4) and wound infection (1).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)