Disappointing Satifaction Rates on Implants

[geedeez]

Today I was searching online for satisfaction rates among penile implant patients. I found a reputable site on it from a government sponsored survey of 74 penile implant patients: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462637/. In the article I was a bit shocked about what the respondents who took part in the study said.

2 things which I found disappointing were that 27% of respondents experienced mechanical/non-mechanical failure. Thats very high! The other disappointing item was that only 60% experienced orgasm. This is too low. This is not what I was expecting.

I was thinking about getting an implant. But reading this now puts a huge wrench in it. If someone can shed light and give some opinion I'd appreciate it. Below is the meat of the survey:

The mean (±standard deviation) age and follow-up period were 57.0±12.2 years and 105.5±64.0 months, respectively. Sixteen patients (21.6%) experienced a mechanical failure and 4 patients (5.4%) experienced a non-mechanical failure at a median follow-up of 98.0 months. Mechanical and overall survival rates of the inflatable penile prosthesis at 5, 10, and 15 years were 93.3%, 76.5%, and 64.8% and 89.1%, 71.4%, and 60.5%, respectively, without a statistically significant correlation with host factors including age, cause of ED, and presence of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Overall, 53 patients (71.6%) completed the questionnaires. The overall patient satisfaction rate was 86.8%, and 83.0% of the patients replied that they intended to repeat the same procedure. Among the 8 items asked, satisfaction with the rigidity of the device received the highest score (90.6%). In contrast, only 60.4% of subjects experienced orgasm.

[oldbeek]

Geedeez, did you have a radical prostatectomy?? After prostatectomy and your nerves are cut out, orgasms are different.

[Lost Sheep]

Oldbeek points out a lack of correlation with prostatectomy, which has a potential effect on anorgasmia.

Indeed the source is a reputable and reliable legitimate fully Peer-Reviewed Medical Journal. But I see a few weaknesses in the article. (I would DEFINITELY NOT call them flaws, though.)

I note that the location of the surgeries is in Korea and all surgeries seem to have been performed by a single surgeon. I wonder if the rather unsatisfactoy statistics might be related to those two facts. The surgeon is reported to be a highly experienced surgeon, but volume (experience) does not always mean the highest skill level.

The fact that the reported figures are less laudatory than other studies indicates more study might be in order before drawing conclusions. I also note that there may be different cultural standards of the patients in answering the IIEF questionnaire (study was focused particularly on Asian men). Since only 72% (53) patients responded to the questionnaire, the self-selection of respondents may bias the results.

Yes, the study is rather disheartening, to the point of discouragement. But we must also recognize that an IPP is generally used only when there is no other treatment. That is, all other treatments have failed or are not acceptable to the patient.

I suggest that no other treatment offers a higher percentage of satisfaction to that cadre of patients.

[smphead]

At a positive point of view :the 27% faillure is at the 98 months mark! So 73% still has his PI at 8 years without faillure.

[merrix]

I don't bother to read the article, but just based on the summary posted in this thread, I'd say that for me, this is encouraging news. Not at all bad news.

Mehanical survivor rates:
5 years: 93.3%
10 years: 76.5%
15 years: 64.8%

To me this is very good news. I was expecting, or rather hoping, my implant would last 10 years.
Expected/average expected life time is the point in time where 50% will have failed. Based on these numbers, this will happen at well after 15 years, maybe 20 years.
These data means that almost 2 out of 3 implants will last more than 15 years!
That is great news to me. Could mean I will only need 2 revisions during the rest of my life.

Regarding the ability to orgasm, first of all, from a selfish point of view, I don't give a shit. I can orgasm, and that's what matters to me. So I can find great encouragement in the survivor rate data and just ignore the problem which I don't have anyway.
But also from a general point of view, it is not pointed out (in the summary in the post above) how many of the respondents who could orgasm before the implant. Which means the 60% don't mean shit. What matters is if the implant destroyed the respondents' ability to orgasm. Does the full article say how many % of them could orgasm before the implant?
There is also literature suggesting that a pubic insertion has a larger risk of damaging nerves and sensitivity. Does the full article say anything about the insertion method?

[LeRoastBeef]

Need to know how many had prostrate removal or damage before implanted.

I was under the impression that what you had before you would keep. Even if sensitivity went down.
Are their cases here of men losing the ability to orgasm due to implant?

[Smetro]

My take on this mirrors Merrix’s analysis.
The only surety is that all of us are different and I suspect in many cases the better the general health of the individual the better the outcome.

[Larry10625]

Today I was searching online for satisfaction rates among penile implant patients. I found a reputable site on it from a government sponsored survey of 74 penile implant patients: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462637/. In the article I was a bit shocked about what the respondents who took part in the study said.

2 things which I found disappointing were that 27% of respondents experienced mechanical/non-mechanical failure. Thats very high! The other disappointing item was that only 60% experienced orgasm. This is too low. This is not what I was expecting.

I was thinking about getting an implant. But reading this now puts a huge wrench in it. If someone can shed light and give some opinion I'd appreciate it. Below is the meat of the survey:

The mean (±standard deviation) age and follow-up period were 57.0±12.2 years and 105.5±64.0 months, respectively. Sixteen patients (21.6%) experienced a mechanical failure and 4 patients (5.4%) experienced a non-mechanical failure at a median follow-up of 98.0 months. Mechanical and overall survival rates of the inflatable penile prosthesis at 5, 10, and 15 years were 93.3%, 76.5%, and 64.8% and 89.1%, 71.4%, and 60.5%, respectively, without a statistically significant correlation with host factors including age, cause of ED, and presence of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Overall, 53 patients (71.6%) completed the questionnaires. The overall patient satisfaction rate was 86.8%, and 83.0% of the patients replied that they intended to repeat the same procedure. Among the 8 items asked, satisfaction with the rigidity of the device received the highest score (90.6%). In contrast, only 60.4% of subjects experienced orgasm.

Here is something to consider;
You get ED and you go on the interned and start reading, taking surveys, participating in polls, etc. After you are implanted and no longer have to worry about ED, how motivated are you to go looking for ED sites? People seek out ways to complain about bad outcomes but, many people go looking for a way to praise a good job. I don't believe these statistics. There are statistics that have been gathered by the implant companies and doctors and I am pretty sure they contacted the random list of patients. ALSO, I have taken these polls before and have been able to vote as many times as I wanted to so, not very reliable.

Larry

[DougAnd]

Let's cut to the chase.

How many guys who could have an orgasm before implant lost their ability to orgasm because of the implant? How many did not?

Put me in the did not lose my orgasm and with a huge bonus It 100% cured pre ejaculation. No more 3 to 5 seconds for me not even close.

Yes I did have a huge mechanical problem. Called operator error. Nothing wrong with the implant. Of course the first Doc did not help pinning the pump to my penis.

[Larry10625]

Today I was searching online for satisfaction rates among penile implant patients. I found a reputable site on it from a government sponsored survey of 74 penile implant patients: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462637/. In the article I was a bit shocked about what the respondents who took part in the study said.

2 things which I found disappointing were that 27% of respondents experienced mechanical/non-mechanical failure. Thats very high! The other disappointing item was that only 60% experienced orgasm. This is too low. This is not what I was expecting.

I was thinking about getting an implant. But reading this now puts a huge wrench in it. If someone can shed light and give some opinion I'd appreciate it. Below is the meat of the survey:

The mean (±standard deviation) age and follow-up period were 57.0±12.2 years and 105.5±64.0 months, respectively. Sixteen patients (21.6%) experienced a mechanical failure and 4 patients (5.4%) experienced a non-mechanical failure at a median follow-up of 98.0 months. Mechanical and overall survival rates of the inflatable penile prosthesis at 5, 10, and 15 years were 93.3%, 76.5%, and 64.8% and 89.1%, 71.4%, and 60.5%, respectively, without a statistically significant correlation with host factors including age, cause of ED, and presence of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Overall, 53 patients (71.6%) completed the questionnaires. The overall patient satisfaction rate was 86.8%, and 83.0% of the patients replied that they intended to repeat the same procedure. Among the 8 items asked, satisfaction with the rigidity of the device received the highest score (90.6%). In contrast, only 60.4% of subjects experienced orgasm.

Hey Geedeez; would you refuse to buy a car that had recalls?? Probably not. Any mechanical item is subject to malfunction. As long as they agree to fix it, I don't think it's fair to condem it or the company... in fact, I think it is commendable to take responsibility for it and agree to fix it. This is just my two cents worth.

Larry