August 17, 2023 Dr. Bruce Blackwell

How long does erectile dysfunction last after undergoing prostate surgery?

Erectile dysfunction in men is an inability to get or maintain erections required for sexual activity.Sometimes ED is a side effect of treatments for prostate cancer like radiation therapy or surgery.

After undergoing prostate cancer treatment, some men find difficulty in getting an erection.Some men notice erections that are not firm, while others no longer experience an erection.

Remember prostate cancer treatments might affect your sexual life as they damage nerves required to get an erection.Whereas, other prostate cancer treatments can affect levels of hormones needed to achieve and maintain an erection.

But even if you are not able to get a full erection, there is a chance to enjoy good sexual life.Nowadays, there are various treatments that can help you to attain hard erections for sexual intercourse.

Some common treatments include:

• Medicines
• Vacuum pumps
• Implants
• Sexual therapy
• Counselling

If you wish to get back to your normal sexual life then consult a doctor and get help.

A radical prostatectomy is a type of prostate surgery in which prostate gland is removed to treat prostate cancer.

This procedure can also cause several side effects like erectile dysfunction in men.

Why does prostatectomy cause erectile dysfunction?

Nerves present around prostate might be affected during prostatectomy surgery and cause erectile dysfunction.

Prostate is a small gland in pelvis that sits between your bladder and rectum at base of male sexual organ.

During primary surgery for prostate cancer, complete prostate gland and some nearby tissues are removed.

On other side of prostate, bundles of nerves are present which are important for a firm erection.

These nerves pass close to prostate gland, and if one or both are removed or damaged during surgery, you suffer from ED.

A doctor might conduct a nerve-sparing surgery so that erectile function of male reproductive organ can be preserved.

Nevertheless, your surgeon might remove nerves if cancer is present in nearby places.

You might experience spontaneous erections if your surgeon leaves either one or both nerves in place and unharmed.

Though natural erections will depend upon different factors like age and overall health. 

A patient can suffer from short-term dysfunction if nerves and blood vessels get damaged during surgery.

Your spontaneous erections will return on their own when swelling starts reducing and area heals.

When loss of function lasts for more than two years, your chance of suffering from long-term erection dysfunction increases.

ED lasting for more than 2 years is likely to be permanent and affect your sexual life.

However, this can be a result of removing one or both nerve bundles during prostate surgery.

After prostatectomy, how long does ED last?

Within first months of a prostatectomy, a number of experience erectile dysfunction problems.

Although several men also start experiencing improvement in their ED condition within a year.

While some men might take almost two years to recover fully from ED and enjoy regular & hard erections.

Risk of experiencing erectile dysfunction after prostate surgery is increased with age.

Men younger than 50 years have more chances to avoid erectile dysfunction and quickly recover from it.

If possible, a surgeon performs a nerve-sparing prostatectomy to spare nerves that are close to your prostate.

However, men who receive nerve-sparing surgery can still suffer from ED after surgery, but they recover early.

Treatments for ED after a prostate surgery

After undergoing prostate surgery, there are several treatments available to treat erectile dysfunction condition. 

Though effectiveness of each treatment will differ depending upon individual. Make sure you consult a doctor.

Here are some effective treatment options which you can consider:

ED medicines

FDA-approved erectile dysfunction medications are not only effective but safe to use as well.

Nowadays, you can find several ED drugs available in market like Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis which treat impotence effectively.

All these PDE-5 inhibitors help in treating ED by improving blood flow to male sexual organ.

As a result, it becomes easy to attain and maintain hard erections required for sexual activity.

Each of these medications works in same way and allows you to enjoy uninterrupted lovemaking sessions.

Men can experience effects of Cialis for long 36 hours, while Viagra and Levitra are only effective for 4 to 5 hours.

Vacuum erection devices

A vacuum erection device is a plastic cylinder that is placed over male sexual organ and enclosed to a suction pump.

This pump further starts creating a vacuum that pushes blood to male sexual organ and helps with erection.

Once male sexual organ is erect, a special plastic band is placed around its base to hold in blood and maintain hard erections.

Nevertheless, this band can be left in place for almost 30 minutes without any worries.

Penile injections

Through penile injections, medicines are injected into shaft of male reproductive organ.

It is a very reliable and effective treatment of erectile dysfunction for men.

Your doctor will tell you how you can take these injections yourself whenever a hard erection for sexual activity is needed.

Surgical implants

Surgical implants are used for treating ED only when no other treatment options are effective for you.

An inflatable tube is inserted in male sexual organ along with a fluid reservoir placed in abdomen and pump on scrotum.

A release button allows a flow of fluid to tuber inserted into male sexual organ, helping in attaining an erection.

With penile implants, you can have several erections and easily involve in sexual intercourse.

Apart from this, you can also go for psychological counseling and treat your ED condition.

 

Thus, it is important to contact a doctor immediately when you experience ED after prostate surgery.