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Not medical advice. The Atlas is not a substitute for a clinician who can examine you.

AMS 700 (Boston Scientific)

AMS 700 CX / LGX / CXR Inflatable Penile Prosthesis with InhibiZone

Evidence grade 5 of 5, Settled. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.

The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.

FDA
FDA Approved (AMS 700 series; InhibiZone coating cleared 2001)

Reference only. Not medical advice.

What can go wrong

Surgical risks include infection (the most feared complication, historically ~1-3%), mechanical failure, erosion, and the irreversible destruction of native erectile tissue during cylinder placement, meaning implants cannot be undone without loss of natural erectile capacity. Boston Scientific states the InhibiZone antibiotic surface (minocycline and rifampin) reduces revision surgery due to infection; published data cited by the company report roughly a 65% reduction in infection-related initial revisions and infection rates near 1% in some series. Diabetic and revision cases carry higher infection risk.

This is something to take to a clinician. The Atlas can tell you what is known about ams 700 (boston scientific) in general. It cannot tell you what is happening in your body, and the difference matters most for exactly the symptoms that bring people to this page.

The AMS 700 (originally American Medical Systems, acquired by Boston Scientific in 2015) is the market-leading three-piece inflatable penile prosthesis: paired cylinders in the corpora cavernosa, a scrotal pump, and a fluid reservoir behind the abdominal wall. The device is surgically implanted, definitively treats erectile dysfunction when other therapies fail, and is one of only two three-piece IPPs available in the US market (the other being the Coloplast Titan). Boston Scientific markets three cylinder types: the CX (controlled girth expansion), the LGX (adds length expansion), and the CXR (narrower cylinders for smaller anatomy or revision).

The market-leading three-piece inflatable implant.

What people take it for

What it is taken for. Approval, where it exists, covers only some of these.

  • Refractory erectile dysfunction after failed oral/injection therapy
  • Severe vasculogenic ED
  • Post-radical-prostatectomy ED
  • Peyronie's disease with ED
  • Priapism-related fibrosis

How it works

Two cylinders implanted within the corpora cavernosa are connected to a scrotal pump and a fluid-filled reservoir. Squeezing the pump transfers saline from the reservoir into the cylinders, producing a rigid erection on demand; a deflation valve returns fluid to the reservoir for flaccidity. Unlike pills or injections, the mechanism is entirely mechanical and independent of vascular or neural erectile function.

What people get wrong

  • Often saidA penile implant makes you bigger

    ActuallyImplants restore rigidity, not size. Many men perceive slight length loss after surgery because the implant fills the existing corpora; the LGX cylinder was designed partly to address this concern.

Who profits, and who pushes back

Nobody is named here yet, because we have not done that work on this entry. Read that as unfinished. Somebody almost certainly sells this, and somebody almost certainly disputes it. Assume both until we have checked.

Set against the alternatives

Compared with the Coloplast Titan, published systematic reviews find no significant difference in durability, mechanical survival, or patient/partner satisfaction. The AMS LGX is the only cylinder offering meaningful length expansion; the Titan is often described as producing greater girth rigidity. Choice frequently comes down to surgeon preference and anatomy.

The market for this

What follows describes how this is bought and sold. It is not a buying guide and it is not an endorsement of any seller.

Typically covered by Medicare and many insurers when medical necessity and prior-therapy failure are documented; all-in device-plus-surgery figures commonly run $9,000-$15,000+, but insured out-of-pocket can be far lower (a Medicare cost model estimated ~$1,600 for outpatient IPP). Over years, a one-time implant can be more cost-effective than ongoing injections or intraurethral therapy.

At a glance

Pieces
3 (cylinders, pump, reservoir)
Cylinders
CX, LGX, CXR variants
Coating
InhibiZone (minocycline + rifampin)
Manufacturer
Boston Scientific (acq. AMS 2015)

What this entry does not yet cover

What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about AMS 700 (Boston Scientific). A short entry is not a safe entry.

  • Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
  • Who uses it. We have not documented the user groups.
  • What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
  • Children and teenagers. We have not checked what is known about younger people.
  • Where we land. We have not taken a position on this yet.

Sources

The studies below are named and described, but not linked. You cannot open them from here and check our reading against them, which means this page is our summary of the literature rather than a document you can verify. Weigh it accordingly until the links exist.

The studies that matter

  • Carson et al., long-term AMS 700 InhibiZone analysis2011

    Lower infection-related revision with minocycline/rifampin coating (~1.8%) vs non-coated (~3.1%) at up to 7.7 years

  • Multi-decade single-surgeon series (2,384 first implants)reported

    10- and 15-year revision-free survival ~68.5% and ~59.7% for all causes

  • Patient satisfaction survey (AMS 700 with MS Pump)reported

    ~95% of surveyed patients very satisfied; no satisfaction difference vs Coloplast Titan