In my office, post-operative implant patients are followed at 3, 6, and 12 month intervals, and then patients typically only return for follow up if they request to be seen. Because of this, we had the most patients who have had the implant less than one year and fewer patients who have had the implant more than ten years. At each visit, every patient was provided with this questionnaire. I have some interesting results to common questions that I want to share and I hope will be helpful as one considers a penile implant for the treatment of ED. The results were arranged in a bar graph. The numbers in black reflect the number of patients that have responded in the corresponding category. We divided the patients in to four groups based on how long they have had the implant.

This survey will be updated every 8 weeks and I will discuss the results. Last update: June 2019.

If you wish to have a copy of the survey, you can download it here.

How long have you had your implant?

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How often do you use your implant on average?

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How comfortable is the implant when not in use?

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I am often asked how comfortable the implant is and if the implant can be felt inside the body. This illustrates that the longer the patient has the implant, the more comfortable it becomes. This also shows that most patients either do not know the implant is there or it does not bother them.

How easy is it to inflate your implant?

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For most patients, it is very easy to inflate the implant, even before the one year mark. Even after 10 years, only 2 patients in the survey have found it difficult to inflate the implant.

How easy is it to deflate your implant?

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These results are consistent with what we observe in the clinic, that it is easier to inflate than to deflate the implant. It is not unusual for patients to take a year to find it very easy or somewhat easy to deflate the implant. I find that it often takes practice and persistence for patients to become comfortable with the deflation process. Because of this, we have established a protocol of starting inflation/deflation as early as 3 days after the surgery, and we have asked patients to cycle the device twice a day for the first month after the surgery.