Comparison of in-patient and out-patient penile prosthesis surgery

Between December 1996 and December 1998, 79 inflatable penile implant inser tions have been performed at our institution by a single surgeon. The objec tive of this analysis was to compare our in-patient and out-patient experie nce with penile prosthesis insertion with respect to ease of performance an d complication profiles. Data was collected in a prospective manner for bot h groups (in-patient, n = 33 and out-patient, n = 46). The two groups were compared with respect to intra.-operative blood loss, operative time, time lost from work, narcotic use and complication rates. Both groups of patient s experienced similar operative blood loss, essentially identical operative times, time lost from work and narcotic use. Most importantly, overall com plication rates were 6% for the in-patient group and 4% for the out-patient group. Inflatable penile implant surgery is feasible in an ambulatory surg ical setting. There is no difference in complication rates, loss of time fr om work, or intra-operative and post-operative course. Furthermore, there i s a significant saving at our institution by performing the procedure in an out-patient fashion. Inpatient prosthetic surgery is reserved for secondar y procedures following a prior implant infection or primary implants in men with significant co-morbidities that require in-patient postoperative moni toring.