Penile Prosthesis / Surgical Implants
Semi-rigid and inflatable penile implants
Evidence grade 4 of 5, Strong. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.
The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.
- FDA
- FDA Approved (devices; first implants 1973)
Reference only. Not medical advice.
What can go wrong
Surgical risks include infection (~2-3% primary, higher in revision and in diabetics), mechanical failure over years, erosion through tissue, and autoinflation. Implantation is irreversible: the corporal tissue is reamed, so natural erections are no longer possible afterward. Antibiotic-coated devices have reduced infection rates.
This is something to take to a clinician. The Atlas can tell you what is known about penile prosthesis / surgical implants 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.
A penile prosthesis is a surgically implanted device that produces an erection mechanically, reserved for men who have failed or cannot use pharmacological therapy. Modern devices include semi-rigid (malleable) rods and two- or three-piece inflatable systems with a scrotal pump and fluid reservoir. Long-term series report patient and partner satisfaction above 90%, the highest of any ED treatment, at the cost of irreversibility and surgical risk.
The most invasive ED treatment, and the one with the highest patient satisfaction.
What people take it for
What it is taken for. Approval, where it exists, covers only some of these.
- Semi-rigid (malleable)
- Bendable rods; simplest, lowest mechanical failure, permanently semi-firm; easiest for men with limited dexterity
- Two-piece inflatable
- Cylinders plus a combined pump-reservoir in the scrotum
- Three-piece inflatable
- Cylinders, scrotal pump, and a separate abdominal fluid reservoir; most natural flaccid and erect states
Safety in detail
This intervention is a surgical procedure with documented risks including infection, mechanical failure, and erosion, and requires evaluation and surgery by a qualified urologist. It is irreversible, implantation destroys the natural erectile tissue's capacity for non-prosthetic erection.
What people get wrong
Often saidAn implant makes you bigger
ActuallyImplants restore erectile rigidity; they generally do not increase length or girth beyond the man's natural stretched dimensions and may modestly reduce perceived length.
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.
How we got here
The Small-Carrion semi-rigid prosthesis and the Brantley Scott inflatable prosthesis were both introduced in 1973, founding the implant era. Devices evolved into the modern three-piece inflatable systems with antibiotic and hydrophilic coatings to reduce infection.
At a glance
- First devices
- 1973 (Small-Carrion, Scott)
- Satisfaction
- >90% in most long-term series
- Primary infection rate
- ~2-3%
- Revision infection rate
- Higher than primary
What this entry does not yet cover
What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about Penile Prosthesis / Surgical Implants. A short entry is not a safe entry.
- Timeline. We have not built the dated record of research and regulatory events.
- Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
- 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.
- How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
- 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
No sources recorded for this entry yet. Nothing on this page can be checked against a citation until that changes, so treat it as a summary awaiting its evidence.