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Early insertion of inflatable prosthesis for intractable ischemic priapism: our experience and review of the literature

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Abstract

A cohort of 20 patients with delayed priapism who underwent treatment at the Emergency Department of our academic referral centers between January 2002 and April 2010 was studied. Of these, 16 cases suffered from a low-flow priapism. A total of 6 cases were managed non-surgically, 10 required shunt surgery, and of these 5 were treated by early penile prosthesis surgery. Prostheses were easily implanted in all patients with a mean operative time of 94 min. No intraoperative complications and no infection were registered. All patients with an inflatable prosthesis complained a reduction in penile sensibility that lasted 3 months. All patients were satisfied with the results of surgery (International Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire-5, Q5 mean value 4), and all were successfully engaging in satisfactory sexual intercourses. No significant loss of penile length, neither apical erosion nor extrusion was recorded. Early insertion of a penile prosthesis is a simple and safe procedure in patients with ischemic priapism, which failed to respond to conservative management. Early insertion of a prosthesis helps to maintain adequate penile length, resolve priapism and, in the long term, it results in high satisfaction rates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SSCVD per l’ Andrologia, SCDU Urologia, AOU San Giovanni Battista di Torino, Torino, Italy

    O Sedigh, L Rolle, C L A Negro, C Ceruti, M Timpano, E Galletto & D Fontana

  2. Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Reconstructive Urology, Shaheed Beheshti Medical Science University, Tehran, Iran

    K Soltanzadeh, H Ajamy & J Hosseinee

  3. Hamad Medical Corporation and University Hospital, Doha, Qatar

    A Al Ansari & A Shamsodini

Authors
  1. O Sedigh
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  2. L Rolle
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  3. C L A Negro
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  4. C Ceruti
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  5. M Timpano
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  6. E Galletto
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  7. K Soltanzadeh
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  8. H Ajamy
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  9. J Hosseinee
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  10. A Al Ansari
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  11. A Shamsodini
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  12. D Fontana
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to O Sedigh.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

We present our experience in the treatment of refractory ischemic priapism with early inflatable penile prosthesis insertion.

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Sedigh, O., Rolle, L., Negro, C. et al. Early insertion of inflatable prosthesis for intractable ischemic priapism: our experience and review of the literature. Int J Impot Res 23, 158–164 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2011.23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2011.23

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