UroToday - Potent Men Undergoing Radical Prostatectomy: A Prospective Study Measuring Sexual Health Outcomes and the Impact of Erectile Dysfunction Treatments - Abstract

[Guest guest]

Wednesday, 14 May 2008

Department of Surgery, Section of Urology, Tucson Medical Center, Tucson, AZ

85712, USA.

Radical prostatectomy (RP) can have a significant impact on sexual health.

The purpose of this study was to measure changes in sexual health after RP,

assess the impact of various treatments for erectile dysfunction, and define

an appropriate endpoint for maintaining sexual health after surgery.

One hundred sixteen men with good preoperative sexual health undergoing RP

completed a validated anonymous survey preop and annually thereafter.

Subgroup analysis was performed based on the use of erectile dysfunction

(ED) treatments. Endpoints for evaluation included an erection adequate for

intercourse and a return to baseline in sexual domain scores.

Overall there was a significant reduction in scores after surgery for each

of the sexual health questions and the function and bother domains. ED

treatments providing an erection adequate for intercourse resulted in domain

scores significantly higher than those in men unable to achieve such an

endpoint, and comparable to those of men returning to good native erectile

function, but still lower than preop. Even in men with good preoperative

sexual health, with erections adequate for intercourse postop, the return to

baseline rate was only 26% in sexual function and 40% in sexual bother.

RP appears to have a significant impact on sexual health. Overall, ED

treatments, when providing a functional erection, improve sexual health

scores, even comparable to men returning to spontaneous erectile function.

Although, men functioning well prior to surgery infrequently returned to

their preoperative level of sexual health, even with return of native

erectile function or the successful use of an ED treatment.

Written by

Dalkin BL, BA.

Reference

Urol Oncol. 2008 May-Jun;26(3):281-5.

doi:10.1016/j.urolonc.2007.02.012

PubMed Abstract

PMID:18452820