Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Immediate preoperative blood glucose and hemoglobin a1c levels are not predictive of postoperative infections in diabetic men undergoing penile prosthesis placement

Abstract

Defining the risks associated with diabetes mellitus in patients undergoing penile prosthesis implantation remains controversial. Our study aims to assess whether preoperative hemoglobin a1c and preoperative blood glucose levels are associated with an increased risk for postoperative infection in diabetic men. We performed a retrospective review of 932 diabetic patients undergoing primary penile prosthesis implantation from 18 high-volume penile prosthesis implantation surgeons throughout the United States, Germany, Belgium, and South Korea. Preoperative hemoglobin a1c and blood glucose levels within 6 h of surgery were collected and assessed in univariate and multivariate models for correlation with postoperative infection, revision, and explantation rates. The primary outcome is postoperative infection and the secondary outcomes are postoperative revision and explantation. In all, 875 patients were included in the final analysis. There were no associations between preoperative blood glucose levels or hemoglobin a1c levels and postoperative infection rates; p = 0.220 and p = 0.598, respectively. On multivariate analysis, a history of diabetes-related complications was a significant predictor of higher revision rates (p = 0.034), but was nonsignificant for infection or explantation rates. We conclude preoperative blood glucose levels and hemoglobin a1c levels are not associated with an increased risk for postoperative infection, revision, or explantation in diabetic men undergoing penile prosthesis implantation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Burnett AL, Nehra A, Breau RH, Culkin DJ, Faraday MM, Hakim LS, et al. Erectile dysfunction: AUA guideline. J Urol. 2018;200:633–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2018.05.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Levine LA, Becher EF, Bella AJ, Brant WO, Kohler TS, Martinez-Salamanca JI, et al. Penile prosthesis surgery: current recommendations from the international consultation on sexual medicine. J Sex Med. 2016;13:489–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2016.01.017.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Huynh LM, Osman MM, Yafi FA. Risk profiling in patients undergoing penile prosthesis implantation. Asian J Androl. 2019. https://doi.org/10.4103/aja.aja_92_19.

  4. Narang GL, Figler BD, Coward RM. Preoperative counseling and expectation management for inflatable penile prosthesis implantation. Transl Androl Urol. 2017;6:S869–80. https://doi.org/10.21037/tau.2017.07.04.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Lipsky MJ, Onyeji I, Golan R, Munarriz R, Kashanian JA, Stember DS, et al. Diabetes is a risk factor for inflatable penile prosthesis infection: analysis of a large statewide database. Sex Med. 2019;7:35–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2018.11.007.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Bishop JR, Moul JW, Sihelnik SA, Peppas DS, Gormley TS, McLeod DG. Use of glycosylated hemoglobin to identify diabetics at high risk for penile periprosthetic infections. J Urol. 1992;147:386–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-5347(17)37244-0.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Habous M, Tal R, Tealab A, Soliman T, Nassar M, Mekawi Z, et al. Defining a glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level that predicts increased risk of penile implant infection. BJU Int. 2018;121:293–300. https://doi.org/10.1111/bju.14076.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Wilson SK, Carson CC, Cleves MA, Delk JR 2nd. Quantifying risk of penile prosthesis infection with elevated glycosylated hemoglobin. J Urol. 1998;159:1537–9. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005392-199805000-00034.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Canguven O, Talib R, El Ansari W, Khalafalla K, Al Ansari A. Is Hba1c level of diabetic patients associated with penile prosthesis implantation infections? Aging Male. 2018;9:1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/13685538.2018.1448059.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ogurtsova K, da Rocha Fernandes JD, Huang Y, Linnenkamp U, Guariguata L, Cho NH, et al. IDF diabetes atlas: global estimates for the prevalence of diabetes for 2015 and 2040. Diabetes Res Clin Pr. 2017;128:40–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2017.03.024.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Okonkwo UA, DiPietro LA. Diabetes and wound angiogenesis. Int J Mol Sci. 2017;18:E1419. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18071419.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Wang R, Panizales MT, Hudson MS, Rogers SO, Schnipper JL. Preoperative glucose as a screening tool in patients without diabetes. J Surg Res. 2014;186:371–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2013.09.014.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Davis MC, Ziewacz JE, Sullivan SE, El-Sayed AM. Preoperative hyperglycemia and complication risk following neurosurgical intervention: a study of 918 consecutive cases. Surg Neurol Int. 2012;3:49. https://doi.org/10.4103/2152-7806.96071.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Shalaurova I, Connelly MA, Garvey WT, Otvos JD. Lipoprotein insulin resistance index: a lipoprotein particle-derived measure of insulin resistance. Metab Syndr Relat Disord. 2014;12:422–9. https://doi.org/10.1089/met.2014.0050.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Harada PHN, Demler OV, Dugani SB, Akinkuolie AO, Moorthy MV, Ridker PM, et al. Lipoprotein insulin resistance score and risk of incident diabetes during extended follow-up of 20 years: the Women’s Health Study. J Clin Lipido. 2017;11:1257–67.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacl.2017.06.008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Faysal A. Yafi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

FAY reports associations with Endo Pharmaceuticals as consultant and speaker; Antares Pharma as consultant and speaker; Coloplast as speaker and advisory board; and Viome as clinical trial primary investigator. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Osman, M.M., Huynh, L.M., El-Khatib, F.M. et al. Immediate preoperative blood glucose and hemoglobin a1c levels are not predictive of postoperative infections in diabetic men undergoing penile prosthesis placement. Int J Impot Res 33, 296–302 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-020-0261-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-020-0261-5

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links