The "Kiel Concept" of Long-Term Administration of Daily Low-Dose Sildenafil Initiated in the Immediate Post-Prostatectomy Period: Evaluation and Comparison With the International Literature on Penile Rehabilitation

Radical prostatectomy (RP) is the most common definitive invasive treatment option for localized prostate cancer. Although the different surgical procedures-open RP, laparoscopic RP, and robot-assisted laparoscopic RP-do not differ significantly for the results of postoperative erectile dysfunction (ED) and continence, the fear of losing erectile function (EF) is often an important factor for preoperatively sexually active men when deciding for or against a procedure.

To review the available literature on rehabilitation of EF after RP and to evaluate the value of the "Kiel concept" against different strategies of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) low-dose treatments.

A review of the available literature up to January 2017 was undertaken using the key terms postsurgical ED, penile rehabilitation," PDE5i rehabilitation, and PDE5i daily dose treatment.

As a main outcome measure we chose reviewed different concepts on the rehabilitation of EF after RP, taking into account the clinical background of the Kiel concept.

The different therapeutic concepts for rehabilitation of EF after nerve-sparing RP are surprising. The most frequently applied method is application of different PDE5is. Despite different studies on efficacy, the issue of an optimal concept remains unresolved. The reason for this, among others, can be found in the difficulty of comparing different studies, which can vary with respect to the degree of nerve sparing, postoperative preservation of nocturnal erections, concomitant morbidity, and the number and experience of surgeons.

In 86% of patients, the Kiel concept has been shown to support rehabilitation of EF after nerve-sparing RP with some form of therapeutic method. The Kiel concept is one therapeutic option among other comparable therapeutic options. Osmonov DK, Jünemann KP, Bannowsky A. The "Kiel Concept" of Long-Term Administration of Daily Low-Dose Sildenafil Initiated in the Immediate Post-Prostatectomy Period: Evaluation and Comparison With the International Literature on Penile Rehabilitation. Sex Med Rev 2017;X:XXX-XXX.

Sexual medicine reviews. 2017 Mar 31 [Epub ahead of print]

Daniar K Osmonov, Klaus P Jünemann, Andreas Bannowsky

Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany. Electronic address: ., Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany., Department of Urology, Imland Hospital Rendsburg, Rendsburg, Germany.