Teaching point: Penile rehabilitation should be initiated in combination with counseling with the couple, vacuum erection therapy, and vacuum erection device therapy, provided it is the patient and partner's preference, undertaken in a safe and effective manner, and monitored closely.¹

Studies have shown that early post-radical prostatectomy erectile preservation therapy may be critical to preserve erections after surgery.² Also, preoperative female sexual function has been correlated with greater partner compliance with the localized component of the erectile preservation protocol. Clinicians should consider the female partner's preoperative sexual function when discussing the patient's erectile function recovery after radical prostatectomy.

Intracavernosal injections or phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5) are commonly used as part of a rehabilitation program, which is commenced immediately after urethral catheter removal or within the first 4 months after radical prostatectomy.³

In the clinical setting, patients may be resistant to initiating penile rehabilitation therapy.^1,3

References

1. Mulhall JP, Morgentaler A. Penile rehabilitation should become the norm for radical prostatectomy patients. J Sex Med. 2007;4(3):538-543.
2. Moskovic DJ, Mohamed O, Sathyamoorthy K, et al. The female factor: predicting compliance with a post-prostatectomy erectile preservation program. J Sex Med. 2010;7(11):3659-3665.
3. Teloken P, Mesquita G, Montorsi F, Mulhall J. Post-radical prostatectomy pharmacological penile rehabilitation: practice patterns among the International Society for Sexual Medicine Practitioners. J Sex Med. 2009;6(7):2032-2038.

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