Effect of endoscopic enucleation of the prostate on erectile and ejaculatory function

Abstract

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a highly prevalent condition in older men, often associated with both lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and reduced quality of sexual life. During the past three decades, researchers have focused on improving new operative techniques to reduce complications of traditional surgery for BPH, such as urethral stricture, stress urinary incontinence. Surgeons have increased interest in investigating the relationship between surgical treatment and postoperative sexual dysfunction such as erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction, as the demand to minimise adverse events has become a concern for more patients. In view of the above, this paper aims to systematise information on the quality of sexual life of patients after surgical treatment of BPH. This work has shown that this problem remains topical to nowadays. It is noteworthy that only a limited number of well-designed, randomised studies exist on this issue. This is mainly due to the unavailability of a uniform methodology for assessing sexual function in surgically treated BPH-patients.