An audit of implanted penile prostheses in the UK.

Abstract

To assess whether the outcome of implanting penile prostheses is related to the number of prostheses implanted by surgeons, as several reports showed that the outcome of a urological procedure is directly related to the experience of the surgeon. We conducted a retrospective audit of 413 penile prostheses implanted over a 2-year period in the UK by 76 surgeons. About 80% of the surgeons implanted only one or two prostheses per year, usually of the malleable type, and usually on patients in the private sector. Only four surgeons implanted >20 prostheses per year. The overall revision rate for implantation in the UK, at 24%, is far higher than the worldwide average. Guidelines are needed on the number of prostheses a surgeon should implant per year so that revision rates will decline to more acceptable levels and patients will be offered a genuine choice of product.