A new study has evaluated the long term outcomes of surgical correction of Peyronies diseases with the incision and grafting technique . In particular the researchers evaluated patients outcomes by following up with them more than ten years after they had their operation.
It’s a first study of its kind since typical follow up period for patients is 24-48 months. A positive outcome was defined as a straight penis with the ability to achieve good erections.
The results reported by the authors are overall positive, with 60% of patients reporting complete satisfaction with the operation even after 10 years. Having said that the number of patients participating in the study was quite small (30) and the defined outcome (patients with straight Penis and no erectile dysfunction) depends on a number of factors which are not related to the surgical correction. For example:
- 50% of men aged over 40 experience some level of erectile dysfunction and this is probably higher in patients with Peyronie’s disease
- Peyronie’s plaques may redevelop in other parts of the penis resulting in recurring curvature and penile shorteningCorrect post operative follow up and rehabilitation follow up is extremely important to avoid penile shortening
- New and improved surgical techniques and material (surgical grafts) have been developed in the past ten years such as the Egydio technique that we perform, which greatly improve the outcome of the operation
Our experience with the incision and grafting technique based on geometrical principles (Egydio technique) suggests that success rates are much higher. In particular, curvature recurrence and penile length loss is minimised by the optimum sizing and placement of the graft based on these geometric principles. If performed by an experienced surgeon and patients have good erections pre-operatively then there is no biomechanical reason why incision and grafting would lead to a deterioration in erectile function. Last but not least continuous follow up and adherence to post operative rehabilitation is extremely important. At International Andrology our doctors are constantly in contact with patients following their operation so as to ensure everything goes well.
To sum up, although incision and grafting has proved to be a safe, effective and repeatable procedure for Peyronie’s disease treatment as the study authors conclude, the outcome still depends significantly on individual surgeon skills, experience and patient selection and follow up.
For more information about Peyronie’s disease treatment options: