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Failure of the Ambicor® inflatable penile prosthesis to deflate

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 17, pages 291–292 (2005)Cite this article

Since Scott et al1 first introduced the inflatable penile prosthesis in 1973, multiple modifications have improved the mechanical reliability of inflatable prosthesis. Despite the improvements in design and materials, a small percentage of men continue to experience mechanical failure of their prosthesis. The two-piece Ambicor® penile prosthesis (American Medical Systems, Minnetonka, Minnesota) was first introduced in 1994. The first series to review the reliability and complications associated with the two-piece Ambicor® inflatable penile prosthesis included 131 men with organic erectile dysfunction who underwent implantation of an Ambicor® penile prosthesis.2 The study by Levine et al had a mean follow-up of 43.4 months and demonstrated an overall complication rate of 7.6% (n=10) with a mechanical failure rate of 2.3% (n=3). In instances of mechanical failure of the Ambicor® penile prosthesis, our experience is that the majority of patients are unable to inflate the prosthesis. We present our first encounter with a patient who was unable to deflate his Ambicor® penile prosthesis due to mechanical failure of the device.

A 59-y-old man was seen in the doctor's private office for the inability to deflate his inflatable penile prosthesis. The patient had undergone a bilateral nerve sparing radical prostatectomy in November 1994. His final pathology demonstrated Gleason 6 (3+3) prostate cancer involving both lobes of the prostate (pT2c). The patient has no other medical problems, takes no medications and has been biochemically free from recurrence since the time of his prostatectomy.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, USA

    A M Murphy

  2. Department of Urology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, USA

    M O'Leary

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  1. A M Murphy
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  2. M O'Leary
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Correspondence to A M Murphy.

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Murphy, A., O'Leary, M. Failure of the Ambicor® inflatable penile prosthesis to deflate. Int J Impot Res 17, 291–292 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901297

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901297

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