Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed malignancies worldwide and the second leading cause of mortality among men (1). Nowadays, radical prostatectomy is considered the primary therapeutic modality for treating patients with localized PC (stage pT2), providing a five-year survival rate of nearly 100% (2). Sexual dysfunction in men associated with PC treatment encompasses three distinct entities: erectile dysfunction (ED) and penile shortening; ejaculatory and orgasmic dysfunction; and psychosexual dysfunction, which pertains to sexual desire, intimacy, and mental health (3). Penile rehabilitation (PR) is defined as the use of any intervention or combination of procedures aimed not only at achieving an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual intercourse but also at restoring erectile function to its preoperative level (4). Despite eff orts to preserve the neurovascular bundle during radical prostatectomy, ED remains a common outcome. Although prevalence rates of ED after the procedure vary widely, recent studies report rates as high as 85% (5). This is primarily due to the lack of control over factors that significantly influence the erection recovery, such as the patient’s age, preoperative erectile function, comorbidities, surgical approach (open, laparoscopic, or robot-assisted), surgical technique (non-, uni-, or bilateral nerve-sparing), and the surgeon’s skills and experience. The pathophysiology of postoperative ED is multifactorial. The primary mechanisms are believed to be damage to the cavernous nerves, whether through dis-section or neuropraxia, and vascular injury, which includes damage to the accessory pudendal arteries, hypoxia and fibrosis of the endothelium and smooth muscle, resulting in penile shortening (6-8). Although there is no consensus on the optimal approach to PR, accepted modalities include the use of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE-5i; such as sildenafil, vardenafil, tadalafil) and vacuum erection de-vices (VED) or vacuum constriction devices (VCD) as first-line therapies. Second-line treatments involve prostaglandin E1 preparations for intracavernous, or intraurethral (MUSE – “Medicated Urethral System for Erection”) administration. The final therapeutic option is the implantation of penile prostheses (3-10).
Jasmin Alić (Mon,) studied this question.