The value of medical pre-operative assessment for patients receiving penile prostheses

Penile prosthesis placement is both safe and efficacious for the treatment of medically refractory erectile dysfunction (ED). Nevertheless, as with all surgery, it carries with it the potential for complications. Consequently, both proper patient selection and risk management are essential for prosthetic surgeons. While very few patients are free of major comorbidities, others have multiple medical issues. Causes of ED include both systemic medical conditions such as diabetes, cardiac disease, hypertension and obesity as well as specific causes such as post surgical prostate, bladder and rectal cancer patients. As such, optimization prior to surgery could have multiple benefits to the prosthetic surgeon.