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Impotence may reduce penis size
SAN DIEGO-Patients who become impotent despite nerve-sparing prostatectomy often report a smaller penis over time, and now urologists have quantified the phenomenon.
In a study of 90 patients, average age 60, an NYU team found a time-dependent 9% decrease in flaccid and erect penile length and a 7% decrease in flaccid and erect circumference. Patients, given a three-drug vasodilator injection, were studied with duplex Doppler.
The loss of calculated volume was 27%, Dr. Andrew McCullough told the American Urological Association meeting here. Major changes occurred by six months postop.
Loss of penile size may be due to postop atrophy following denervation or fibrosis of the penile cavernosal smooth muscle, or both, Dr. McCullough says.
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