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Risks
By Mayo Clinic staffRarely, penile implants become infected or malfunction and have to be removed.
Infection
- For men who are generally healthy, infection rates are low.
- Men with a spinal cord injury or diabetes have a higher risk of infection than average.
- Men who need surgery to adjust or replace an implant (revision surgery) are at higher risk of infection than they were with the first surgery.
If an infection occurs, it's usually not for several weeks or longer after you have surgery. In some cases, an infection occurs years later. Sign and symptoms can include long-term pain, the implant sticking to the skin inside the penis or, rarely, an implant that breaks through the skin of the penis. With inflatable models, the entire area around the implant can become infected. Serious infections cause swelling of the scrotum, drainage of pus and fever. Surgery to remove the implant is almost always necessary to treat an infection.
Malfunction
Although new penile implant designs are very reliable and may last a lifetime, in rare cases they can malfunction. For example, in some semirigid devices, internal parts can break down over time. In inflatable devices, fluid can leak or the valve or pump device can fail. Surgery is necessary to repair or replace a broken implant.
- Montauge DK. Prosthetic surgery for erectile dysfunction. In: Wein AJ, et al. Walsh: Campbell's Urology. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/119551792-3/801941680/1445/26.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-7216-0798-6..50025-X--cesec13_1966. Accessed Feb. 6, 2009.
- Henry GD. Updates in inflatable penile prostheses. Urology Clinics of North America. 2007;34:335.
- Erectile dysfunction. Cornell University Sexual Medicine Program. http://www.cornellurology.com. Accessed Feb. 6, 2009.
- Carson CC. Penile prosthesis implantation: Surgical implants in the era of oral medication. Urololgy Clinics of North America. 2005;32:503.
