Should being aged over 70 years hinder penile prosthesis implantation?

• Published in: BJU international 2009-09, Vol.104 (6), p.834-837
• Main Authors: Al‐Najar, Amr, Naumann, Carsten Maik, Kaufmann, Sascha, Steinbach‐Jensch, Andrea, Hamann, Moritz Franz, Jünemann, Klaus‐Peter, Van Der Horst, Christof
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Factors; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Coitus; erectile dysfunction; Erectile Dysfunction - surgery; Follow-Up Studies; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Male; Male genital diseases; Medical sciences; Non tumoral diseases; Patient Satisfaction; Penile Implantation - psychology; penile prosthesis; Penile Prosthesis - psychology; seventh decade of life; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Surgery of the genital tract and mammary gland; Surveys and Questionnaires; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 1464-4096; 1464-410X; 1464-410X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2009.08502.x

OBJECTIVE To assess the satisfaction profiles following penile prosthesis surgery in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) in their seventh decade of life. PATIENTS AND METHODS In all, 174 patients received, for the first time, a penile prosthesis between 1990 and 2007 in our department. Among these, 35 patients were aged ≥70 years at prosthesis implantation. Of these, 18 patients were still alive at the time of follow‐up. Using a telephone survey, patients were asked to answer the Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction (EDITS) as well as the International Index of Erectile Dysfunction (IIEF). Another question in the survey was developed by the authors based on a comprehensive review of the literature, which assessed the usefulness of the device for the patient and the degree of their usage. This was formulated as follows: How many times per 2 weeks do you have a sexual intercourse? RESULTS In all, 15 of 18 patients were either very or somewhat satisfied (83%). At follow‐up 11 out of 15 (73%) patients were using their prosthesis regularly. The mean IIEF and EDITS scores were 21.80 and 75.20, respectively. CONCLUSION A penile prosthesis remains a highly promising treatment in older patients with a similar satisfaction rate to those published for younger patients. Thus, the motivation of the patient and not the age of the patient should be the main determinant factor in this surgical procedure.