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Abstract Introduction Due to the sensitivity of the topic of penile implants for the treatment of refractory erectile dysfunction (ED) in the Middle East and North Africa region, a scarce body of related research is available. Objective We aimed at investigating the levels of patient and partner satisfaction after malleable penile prosthesis implantation among the Arab population and its dynamics during and after the first 6 months of surgery. Methods This was a prospective 6-month follow-up study of 120 patients undergoing malleable penile prosthesis implantation at our unit by a single surgeon. Three telephone encounters were conducted for each couple at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months postoperative (PO). We utilized our validated Arabic version of the Modified Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction (AM-EDITS). During the 1st first encounter, we inquired about the general patient perioperative experience, starting from preoperative counseling till the first month after surgery. The 2nd and 3rd encounters focused on patient and partner satisfaction after implant utilization. Results The average ages of the men and their partners were 54.7±8.4 and 32.9±4.6 years, respectively. Levels of anxiety decreased in over 82% of the men in our study upon receiving proper preoperative counseling. Almost all of the patients were happy (96%) with their early PO days with over 50% of them exceeding their expectations. After 3 months, 82.5% of the men were satisfied, describing their erections to be 80% close to natural. Of the 92.5% satisfied partners at 3 months, nearly 80% were highly satisfied. Over 93% of them reported feeling sexually desirable by their husbands. As opposed to the significant rise in men’s overall satisfaction and AM-EDITS index by 11.6% and 5.2 ± 0.8% (P 0.001), respectively after 6 months PO, partners demonstrated a 12.4% and 5.9 ± 0.8 decline (P 0.001), respectively, compared to the 3 months follow up. Conclusions Malleable penile implants still represent a good quality-of-life treatment option for middle to low-income countries. Time has a positive effect on Arab men’s PO satisfaction as opposed to their partners’. The explanation behind these findings should be investigated in further studies. A proper understanding of the dynamics of patient and partner satisfaction over time may be useful for proper perioperative counseling of both parties to ensure their sustainable satisfaction. Disclosure No.
Ragheb et al. (Fri,) studied this question.