Risk profiling in patients undergoing penile prosthesis implantation

Penile prosthesis in the medically complex patient: a narrative review

Background and Objective

Penile prosthesis surgery is considered a safe and effective treatment for patients with erectile dysfunction. Implantation in the medically complex patient can be a challenge. The benefits of treatment must outweigh the possible risks or complications. A description of possible problems and how to cope with them is given in this narrative review.

Methods

Literature search was performed in January 2023 using different search prompts in PubMed. These articles, excluding non-English and non-full text articles, were listed by the two authors and afterwards, the most relevant ones were included.

Key Content and Findings

This article is divided into five important topics. We evaluated different comorbidities such as spinal cord injury, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease, in which preoperative work-up and counseling is of significant importance. A detailed description of these comorbidities and how to handle these can be found in each section. In addition to the preoperative aspect in organ transplant patients, problems during surgery can arise, e.g., with the reservoir placement. Similarly, in patients with previous pelvic surgery, an ectopic reservoir placement can prevent possible complications.

Conclusions

Preoperative diagnostics are crucial and prosthetic surgery should be done by an experienced high-volume surgeon with a diverse range of surgical techniques at his disposal.

Correlation of fasting blood sugar at the time of penile prosthesis surgery with the level of glycated hemoglobin and the outcome of surgery

Background

The role of glycemic control in predicting implant infection and other surgical complications is debatable. This study aimed to assess the potential correlation between fasting blood sugar (FBS) levels prior to penile prosthesis surgery (PPS) and the surgical outcomes.

Methods

A retrospective study from data collected prospectively in 2015 in a single center. Patients who underwent penile implant procedures were included. Exclusion criteria were if surgery done by low-volume implanter, patients who required revision surgery or not diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Management was standardized to all patients.

Results

All complications whether minor or major were documented up to three years. One year after the surgery a Likert scale questionnaire was completed by the patients. In total, 218 patients completed the study at last follow-up. Complications rate was 6.25%. The rate of infection requiring explantation was 3.8%. 0.9% of patients had a superficial infection managed successfully with conservative management. 0.9% had erosion and 0.9% had mechanical failure. There was no statistically significant difference in FBS or glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in patients with postoperative complications compared to patients with satisfactory postoperative course. FBS level on the day of surgery was within 20 mg/dL (1.11 mmol/L) of the expected range based on HbA1c measurement in 62 patients (28.44%), while in 146 patients (66.98%) the FBS was not within 20 mg/dl (1.11 mmol/L) of the expected range based on preoperative HbA1c level.

Conclusion

FBS levels on the day of surgery are not correlated with HbA1c levels and PPS outcomes.