Impact of penile rehabilitation with phosphodiesterase‐5 inhibitors on recovery of erectile function in patients undergoing robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy: A propensity score‐matched analysis

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of penile rehabilitation on the recovery of erectile function after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. METHODS: Patients who underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in our department from 2010 to 2019 were included. For penile rehabilitation, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (tadalafil 20 mg) was administered twice a week for 1-6 months postoperatively. The International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire (question 1 and erectile function domain) and the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite questionnaire (sexual function) were used. RESULTS: After propensity score matching, there were 79 patients in the penile rehabilitation group and 79 patients in the non-penile rehabilitation group. There was no significant difference in baseline characteristics between the two groups. Significantly higher scores were seen in the penile rehabilitation group compared with the non-penile rehabilitation group at postoperative 3, 6 and 9 months in the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire-question 1, at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months in erectile function domain, and at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months in Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite questionnaire sexual function (P < 0.05). There were significant improvements in the erectile recovery rate in the penile rehabilitation group compared with the non-penile rehabilitation group in the nerve sparing (P = 0.006) and partial nerve sparing (P = 0.037) groups. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that robot-assisted radical prostatectomy patients who undergo not only nerve sparing, but also those who undergo patial nerve sparing could benefit from penile rehabilitation using a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor.