An audit of implanted penile prostheses in the UK.
OBJECTIVE
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.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective audit of 413 penile prostheses implanted over a 2-year period in the UK by 76 surgeons.


RESULTS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Agrawal
Vineet
V
St. Peter's Department of Andrology, Institute of Urology, London, UK. agrawalvineet@hotmail.com
Ralph
David
D
D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D015917:Penile Prosthesis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012086:Reoperation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom