The connection between prostate surgery and impotence is related to the type of aggressive treatment that a man receives for prostate cancer. Prostate surgery is an operation to either partially or completely remove the prostate gland, which is connected to normal sexual function in men. When a man has a radical prostatectomy — surgery to remove a cancerous prostate and the surrounding nerves and tissue — his ability to maintain an erection can be inhibited either temporarily or permanently. A nerve-sparing prostatectomy surgery involves only removing the prostate, causing only temporary impotence.
Impotence, or erectile dysfunction, occurs when damage to the nerves in the penis prevents a man from having an erection. Treatment such as surgery for prostate cancer may affect those nerves and lead to impotence. For most men, the extent of the damage that is connected with prostate surgery and impotence depends on factors such as age and how far the cancer has progressed.
Radical prostatectomy removes the prostate gland, the seminal vesicles that produce semen, and the muscle which is responsible for pumping sperm to the urethra — which is responsible for releasing sperm from the man’s body. Doctors may recommend this form of prostate cancer treatment to prevent having the cancer spread throughout the body from the prostate. As a result of this radical surgery, nerves become damaged, leading to erectile dysfunction until the nerves heal. If veins also suffer trauma during a radical prostatectomy, impotence may occur because they can no longer work to keep the penis filled with blood.
Another factor related to prostate surgery and impotence is whether or not the surgeon conducted a nerve-sparing surgery to treat the prostate cancer. Nerve-sparing surgery is less invasive than the radical prostatectomy. The surgeon only removes the prostate without also removing the nerves surrounding it.
These nerves, which are located in veins around the prostate gland, send signals to the penis during sexual arousal to become erect. The function of these nerves is to signal muscle tissue to become relaxed so that blood will flow through the muscle, leading to an erection. The loss of these nerves often results in erectile dysfunction; the muscle that pumps blood that leads to an erection does not function. While a man may suffer from impotence after prostate surgery, he may not lose his desire for sex.
The body generally needs time to recover after any form of surgery. Likewise, the effects of prostate surgery and impotence will take time before erections are normal again. After a man undergoes a radical prostatectomy, recovery from impotence could take up to 12 months or longer. Most doctors may prescribe medication or other forms of treatments to combat the effects of prostate surgery and impotence.
