Salvage penile prosthetic surgery utilizing temporary malleable implants

The inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) is an effective erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment modality when oral and injectable therapies fail to achieve satisfactory results. Unfortunately, infection of the prosthetic remains a dreaded complication occurring in a small fraction of patients despite advances in device design and surgical techniques. With a prosthetic infection or erosion, classic management has included removal of all hardware with thorough irrigation of the infected spaces. To prevent corporal fibrosis and scarring that can make a subsequent implant challenging, an immediate salvage procedure with a three-piece prosthesis has been advocated when possible. However, there has been recent interest in using malleable devices during salvage procedures to serve as a temporary implant and further improve outcomes. Based on a literature review of immediate salvage procedures for infected penile prostheses, management with typical Mulcahy washout and IPP reimplant may be quite successful in appropriately selected patients. Based on one case series and a second multicenter trial of malleable salvage procedures, utilizing a malleable as a temporary implant is similarly, if not more, successful at eradicating prosthetic infection. The malleable implant not only serves as a temporary space-filling corporal implant to prevent fibrosis, but may also prove an adequate destination therapy for some given the lower than expected rate of delayed conversion to inflatable prosthesis. Future studies are needed to better characterize the role of malleable devices for penile prosthetic salvage and query patient satisfaction with the malleable device and repeated surgeries.