Penile Implant Surgery For Men Who Suffer Erectile Dysfunction (Impotence)

Pioneered by Dr. F. Brantley Scott, a professor of surgery and a urologist at the Baylor Medical School in Houston, Texas in the 1970's, the penile implant has been used to enhance the sex lives of hundreds of thousands of men around the world. In the United States alone, over 20,000 men a year have penile implant surgery.

Penile implant surgery is a treatment of last resort for men who suffer erectile dysfunction, the condition also known as impotence. The procedure is also used to treat an unusually small penis, or micropenis, and to repair or even replace the penis when it is accidentally or intentionally injured.

Penile implants are also a feature of female-to-male gender reassignment surgery, and they are frequently recommended for the treatment of Peyronnie's disease, in which the erect penis points to one side rather than forward, making conventional intercourse impossible.

In penile implant surgery, the doctor places an inflatable penile prosthesis inside the man's abdomen. This device replaces the two tubular structures, the corpora cavernosa, that run the length of the penis and fill with blood to enable an erection. The replacement device may consist of stiff metal rods that leave the penis permanently stiff, so that it only needs to be placed where desired for sexual intercourse, or the implant may be inflatable, operated by a hydraulic pump concealed in the abdomen and activated by the man when an erection is desired. The inflatable penile prosthesis fills two rods at the sides of the penis with salt water solution to create an erection, the pump activated again to drain the penis when intercourse is complete.

A Significant Drawback to Penile Implant Surgery

Penile implant surgery is irreversible. The procedure destroys the natural erectile tissue of the penis. This can never be replaced. Most men lose 7 to 10 mm (about half an inch) of length of the erect penis after implant surgery. The resulting penis typically appears normal, although it is not possible to enlarge the head, or glans penis, by this procedure. 

An Unmatched Advantage to Penile Implant Surgery

The erection powered by a penile implant can be maintained as long as desired. There is no risk of priapism,  the permanent vascular damage that can be caused by, as the ED pill commercials always point out, "an erection lasting four hours or more." 

Penile implant devices are not, however, permanent. Usually after 8 or 10 years, the device wears out and has to be surgically replaced, especially in the case of the inflatable devices.

Ten Things Doctors Don't Tell Men (Or Men Don't Hear) About Penile Implantation Surgery

Penile implantation surgery is an irreversible procedure that should only be attempted as a last resort for restoring a man's sex life. Men considering the surgery need to know ten things they usually don't "hear" from their doctors.

1. The surgeon typically chooses the specific brand of implant during surgery.

What you expect may not be what you get. Penile implant surgeons typically stock an enormous range of sizes and models of penil implants, and only choose a specific model once they are in the middle of the procedure.

2. Non-inflatable penile implants tend to cause deterioration of the surrounding penis tissue.

Non-inflatable prostheses are easier to implant, but they are more likely to cause long-term deterioration of penile tissue. 

3. Non-inflatable penile implants cause a permanent erection.

Although the erection is easy to conceal beneath clothing, there is never a time a man is not "hard" with a non-inflatable implant--until it wears out.

4. Non-inflatable penile implants cause the greatest post-surgical pain.

Outside the US, more men opt for non-inflatable implants, but they cause the greatest post-surgical pain and pose the greatest risk of injury to the penis during day to day activities.

5. A two-piece inflatable implant is especially easy to use.

Just power if up for an erection, and release the fluid when you are ready for the penis to be flaccid again.

6. But the penis with a two-piece inflatable implant doesn't look natural.

Perhaps the best way to describe the penis after implantation of a two-piece inflatable device is a broom with square head.

7. A three-piece inflatable penile implant is harder to use, but looks more natural.

Also, the three-piece inflatable penile implant enables stiffer erections because more fluid is pumped into the two chambers at the sides of the penis.

8. A three-part inflatable penile implant places the least pressure on the sides and head (glans) of the penis when it is not in use.

This prevents pressure sores and deterioration of the remaining tissue of the penis.

9. The three-part inflatable penile implant is the only implant that leaves the penis looking normal after the surgery.

Many doctors report that observers can't tell there has been a surgical procedure.

10. The amount of ejaculate typically greatly increases after implant surgery.

Volume of semen, however, decreases with time as the implant slowly wears out.