Study: Penile length shortening after radical prostatectomy

As prostate cancer (PC) is the most common type of male-specific cancer in North American men, and many men choose radical prostatectomy (RP) to remove their cancer, a recent study aimed to provide an account of patients’ perceptions and responses to living with penile length shortening (PLS) after RP

According to investigators, penile length shortening (PLS) occurs in a reported 68% to 71% of men undergoing RP, little is known about it. In an electronic journal search, only 9 medical articles (with no nursing publications) were published between 1980 and 2007.

Based on subjects’ own definitions of masculinity, no significant changes in the constructs of masculinity and overall self-image perception were reported.

Men undergoing RP may not be fully aware that PLS is a possible consequence related to treatment. In spite of this, subjects were not negatively affected by its occurrence.