3-Piece Inflatable Penile Prosthesis Placement Following Radical Cystoprostatectomy and Urinary Diversion: Technique and Outcomes

Abstract

Background: After radical cystoprostatectomy (RC), postoperative erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common consequence with multiple contributing etiologies. The inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) offers patients a definitive treatment option when ED is refractory to medical therapies. Because of the hostile postoperative anatomy of these patients, a careful surgical approach is necessary for successful outcomes and to avoid adjacent organ injury. To date, there is no series describing the outcomes of 3-piece IPP placement in patients with urinary diversions.

Aim: To present contemporary outcomes and a description of our technique in placing a 3-piece IPP for postoperative ED in patients with a history of RC with orthotopic neobladder, ileal conduit, or continent cutaneous diversion.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 80 patients who underwent primary placement of a 3-piece IPP (AMS 700; American Medical Systems Inc, Minnetonka, MN, USA) after RC and urinary diversion from 2003 through 2016. 79 patients underwent RC in their treatment of urologic malignancy (71 for bladder cancer, 8 for prostate cancer) and 1 underwent RC for refractory interstitial cystitis. An infrapubic approach was used in most patients, with reservoir placement in the lateral retroperitoneal space through a counterincision medial to the anterior superior iliac spine. Patient demographics, perioperative data, and postoperative outcomes including prosthetic infection and mechanical failure were examined and statistical analysis was performed.

Outcomes: Rates of device infection, revision surgery, and reservoir complications.

Results: After mean follow-up of 53.9 months (6.5-150.7 months), 4 patients developed infection of the prosthesis that required explantation. 3 of those patients underwent successful IPP reimplantation. 5 patients required revision surgery (pump replacement, n = 3; pump relocation, n = 1; cylinder replacement for cylinder aneurysm, n = 1) for mechanical failure. No statistically significant associations were found between infection and comorbidities, urinary diversion, exposure to chemotherapy, radiation, or presence of an artificial urinary sphincter.

Clinical implications: The 3-piece IPP is an effective treatment option for medication-refractory ED that can be placed safely in patients with all forms of urinary diversion.

Strengths and limitations: This study represents the 1st series that describes a successful technique and long-term outcomes of patients with urinary diversion. It is limited by its single-surgeon, single-center experience and lacks validated patient satisfaction data in follow-up.

Conclusions: The 3-piece IPP, with reservoir placement in the lateral retroperitoneum, can be implanted successfully in patients with all forms of urinary diversion without a significant increase in infectious complications, reservoir erosion, or mechanical failure. Loh-Doyle J, Patil MB, Sawkar H, et al. 3-Piece Inflatable Penile Prosthesis Placement Following Radical Cystoprostatectomy and Urinary Diversion: Technique and Outcomes. J Sex Med 2018;15:907-913.

Keywords: Bladder Cancer; Erectile Dysfunction; Inflatable Penile Prosthesis; Urinary Diversion.