Efficacy of Antibiotic Impregnation of Inflatable Penile Prostheses in Decreasing Infection in Original Implants

PURPOSE: We compared infection rates in original inflatable penile prostheses implants between prostheses impregnated with InhibiZone (American Medical Systems, Minnetonka, Minnesota), an antibiotic surface treatment, and prostheses without antibiotic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patient information forms filed with the manufacturer following original implantation in the United States to implant AMS 700 series penile prostheses (American Medical Systems) between May 1, 2001 and April 30, 2003. We compared results in 4205 men, including 2261 with a mean age of 60.71 years who received prostheses with InhibiZone, a surface treatment combining rifampin and minocycline hydrochloride, and a control group of 1944 with a mean age of 61.04 years who received untreated prostheses. Followup in the treatment and control groups was 0 to 11.5 months (mean 5 and 8, respectively). In the treatment group only implants in which all components were treated were included. RESULTS: The reported incidence of infection after 60 days was 0.28% in the treated group and 1.59% in the control group (p = 0.0034). After 180 days the infection rate in the treated and control groups was 0.68% and 1.61%, respectively (p = 0.0047). The treated group had an infection rate that was 82.4% lower than in the control group after 60 days and 57.8% lower after 180 days. Erectile dysfunction etiologies occurred at statistically similar rates in the 2 groups and did not impact infection rate results. CONCLUSIONS: The use of InhibiZone to target postoperative infections results in a statistically significant decrease in penile prosthesis infection rates in original implants. Infection rates in the control group were consistent with those in the published literature.