The advent of erectile dysfunction medications like Viagra has meant the the number of men receiving penile implants has declined however recent research has shown that 90% of all men who were fitted with them are able to maintain sexual intercourse, 80% were happy with results and 71% said that were happy with the actual operation. Viagra and other erectile dysfunction medications are not always the answer to some impotence problems and thus the usefulness of penile implants is still relevant.

The research was done in London at St Peter's Hospital and also at The Institute of Urology and 447 men who underwent a total of 504 penile implants were interviewed. The men ranged in age from 21years old to 78 years old and had an average age of 52. The study is the most in depth long term research done on penile implants and the information has been proved to be useful in evaluating whether they are serious impotence treatments. Over ten different types of penile implants were looked at all of which were implanted between 1975 and 2000.

The reasons that people opt for penile implants are varied by the figures show that 27% suffered from ED due to diabetes and 26% had vascular disease. Other reasons were the effects of radical pelvic surgery or for men who suffered from spinal cord injuries.

The vast majority of the operations were a success and most of the men were able to indulge in sexual intercourse as a result, occassionally dissatisfaction was caused by an infection or very rarely a mechanical failure and this would mean the device would have to be removed. In all 24% of men had some sort of problem with the implant after the operation that included things like short term urinary retention or superficial wound infections but most of these things were minor and easily resolved.

Different types of penile implants had different types of post operation problems and the nature of the erectile dysfunction problem also effected the outcome. Out of the 504 penile implants looked at 80% were first time procedures and around 20% were for revisions to the penile implants or for the men who required the surgery again.