Erectile dysfunction is a very common condition in the French male population, starting as early as the age of 40. Nowadays, penile implantation is a second-line treatment after pharmacological therapies, with a high rate of satisfaction. Female satisfaction, on the other hand, is poorly studied, despite its crucial importance in the context of a couple. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the sexual quality of life of partners of patients who have undergone penile implantation.
We conducted a retrospective multicenter observational study including patients who underwent penile implantation for erectile dysfunction. A telephone interview was conducted with the patient and his partner, and a pre- and post-operative FSFI questionnaire was administered to the partner to assess the improvement in her sexual quality of life following surgery. Additionally, the patient completed the EDITS questionnaire to evaluate satisfaction with the implant, and assessments were made regarding comorbidities, etiology of erectile dysfunction, post-operative complications and complaints, duration of abstinence before resuming sexual activity, and the partner's perception of therapy.
33 couples were included in the study, with patients undergoing implantation between January 2017 and December 2023, at the University Hospitals of Réunion and Clermont-Ferrand, as well as at the Bon Secours Clinic in Puy en Velay. We observed a statistically significant decrease in female sexual dysfunction (Δ +11.3, p<0.001), with 100% dysfunction preoperatively compared to 48.5% postoperatively. We found a statistically significant association between a high FSFI score and a high EDITS score (p<0.001 and p=0.021) for the first 8 items of the questionnaire, with the absence of cardiovascular pathology (p=0.033), easy manipulation of the implant (p=0.04), as well as with good involvement of the partner in the management of erectile dysfunction (p=0.0001). We did not observe any variation according to the value of item 9 of the EDITS (p=0.95), the initial etiology of erectile dysfunction (p=0.29), the presence of postoperative complications (p=0.3848), or the duration of abstinence (p=0.59).
The treatment of erectile dysfunction through penile implantation improves the sexual quality of life of the woman within the couple. This improvement could be further optimized by involving the patient's partner to a greater extent and by offering sexological follow-up before and after surgery. Conducting a new study involving a larger population, conducted prospectively with pre- and post-operative sexological evaluation, could be done to confirm these results. Discipline: Urology, Andrology.
The French journal of urology. 2026 Jan 16 [Epub ahead of print]
Pironin Félix, Vedrine Nicolas, Guy Laurent, Reichenbach Angèle, Gigante Marc, Gayrel Pierre
docteur junior en urologie, interne de l'Océan Indien, France. Electronic address: ., praticien hospitalier, CHU Gabriel Montpied, France., professeur universitaire praticien hospitalier, CHU Gabriel Montpied, France., chef de clinique, CHU Gabriel Montpied, France., professeur universitaire praticien hospitalier, CHU Saint Pierre, France., urologue, clinique Bon-Secours, France.