Penile Shortening After Urethroplasty?

[Lothson]

Greetings All,

It's three weeks after my excision primary anastomosis urethroplasty to correct a stricture in the bulbar urethra. I'm unsure of the stricture's exact length -- when I phoned to ask, I was told it wasn't included in the surgical notes -- but it was estimated 1.5-2.0 cm.

The reason I'm writing is that I've noticed a pronounced penile shortening, or rather a reduced erectile length, and am wondering about others' experiences. Has anyone else had this? Or, was your erectile length always the same? I'd say my erectile length is only at best about 50-60% of what it was before surgery. I'm hoping others have seen this and that the issue resolved fully in time.

When I asked one of my doctors about this over the phone, he reminded me that he warned of possible erectile dysfunction for up to six months after surgery. ED to me means difficulty attaining or maintaining an erection, not penile shortening (!), but I guess that's beside the point. The doctor added that the catheter prevents full erection, which I can accept, but the catheter is out now and I see no improvement. He assured me that I should return to normal in time and emphasized that I'm not achieving a full erection because that my penis underwent significant trauma.

The doctor also said that he's never seen erectile shortening with the type of surgery and stricture length I had, but I'm seeing medical surveys online showing 22-25% incidence of penile shortening after the same operation and stricture size. I don't doubt my physicians, but am just struggling to reconcile apparently conflicting information.

I specifically asked my doctors before the surgery multiple times about possible complications and cosmetic outcomes and never once was possible penile shortening mentioned. Stroke, heart attack and death were mentioned as risks during surgery and failure, recurrence, and ED were mentioned as possible side effects of the procedure. Also, scars at the incision site, of course.

I plan to ask my doctors again at a follow-up if the condition doesn't improve, but in the meantime, I would really appreciate any insight others can share.

Erectile length probably shouldn't matter if the surgery is otherwise successful, but I would've preferred at the very least a warning about the risk of shortening -- even if temporary -- so I could've at least psychologically prepared for the possibility or perhaps opted for another treatment.

I'm really hoping someone out there can confirm this reduced erection length is normal and temporary.

As a 32-year old single guy who wasn't overly thrilled with my length before, cutting it in half is not an idea I relish, to say the least. :/ Hope you can understand.

Thanks very much for reading and especially for sharing any insights. I searched the boards to see if this has been discussed before and didn't turn up anything, sorry if I just missed it.

[Lothson]

Hey Immortal. It's been about 8 months since my surgery. Soon after the procedure, I could see and feel that my penis was shorter when I have an erection, I'd estimate by about 1-1.5 inches. I was hoping that with time, things would improve, and that I simply wasn't achieving a full erection, but so far everything is the same, unfortunately. The shortening doesn't seem to be temporary, at least not in my case. I plan to give it a few more months, until it's been a year or more for full healing, then maybe ask the doctor about medication for erectile dysfunction as a last ditch effort to see if that will help with the erectile length. Though, to be honest, I'm not too optimistic and don't want to get my hopes up (no pun intended). Over time, I'm getting used to it -- what else can we do? As long as everything works more or less, it's better than nothing. I will keep my fingers crossed for you and I wish you a full and speedy recovery.  Try not to worry too much and take it easy.    

[mak4777]

What else can we do?  How about sue their ***?  They have ffed with our manhood!

[JohnnysQ]

Sharing my experience in hopes it helps somebody. I was in an accident and had injuries like Haya. I'm 5 months post op and continue to have some shortening/new downward curvature, less firm glans and ejaculation weirdness. The doc tells me the u-plasty scar interrupts the blood flow through the corpus spongeosum. There's no artery or veins in the area, so no flow means the glans is soft and the urethra is too easy to cut off (so whatever stimulates you to ejaculate stops the flow of ejaculate).

[immortal07]

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. You will never know how I appreciate it
I have another quick question that I really need help with, which is the first time you had sex after the surgery.
The emotion around this is very intense and I want to prepare myself for that (for myself and for my partner).
When was the first time having sex after the surgery , 4 weeks after , 6 weeks after .... , was there blood .... you know .....

[immortal07]

just for all of us to be hopeful:
http://www.sharecare.com/question/what-penile-shortening-radical-prostatectomy

[Lothson]

Hey Immortal! Good question about the first time I had sex after surgery. I definitely share your emotions and concern. So, about 6 weeks after the operation I resumed sexual activity, per my doctors permission. For me -- since I was single at the time -- this meant masturbating. Very gently. Very. Gently. During, I had no pain whatsoever, but afterward, there was some discomfort -- basically, an internal soreness in my penis or urethra -- and this continues to be my experience with sexual activity, but over time the post-ejaculation discomfort is mostly diminishing. There was absolutely no blood whatsoever at any point and I don't think there should be. If I remember correctly, I read on another community of one fellow's experience masturbating about two weeks after surgery and there was blood in his ejaculate, but this was too soon after the operation and he still had the catheter (!). In the end, I think he reported that he was ok. If you're doing something that is causing you pain or bleeding, stop and check with a medical professional. Take it easy and go slow. Ask your partner to be *extra* gentle and mindful of your surgery and of the fact that you're still healing, for up to a year. Do not apply pressure to the surgical site, the perineum. You may want to engage in positions that allow you to control the action so that you can avoid unexpected movement that could cause pain or injury and so that you can stop if need be. I recently started dating for the first time after surgery and had my first post-operation sex: I had no pain at the time, but afterward, there was some discomfort, more than with masturbation, but it subsided after a day or two. My partner was a little rougher than I would have liked, even though I asked for gentle treatment and talked about my surgery. I think people can get carried away in sex. Ordinarily, this can be a good thing, right? ;) In our case, though, don't be shy about reminding your partner to be careful and gentle and stop if you experience pain! Your healing and health are the most important things. To manage expectations, warn your partner ahead of time about the possibility of pausing or stopping; this was beneficial for me and my partner and we did pause and change positions a couple of times due to my condition. I hope this helps and I wish you a full recovery. Good luck and I hope enjoy the sex! Thanks for the link about length possibly returning -- this does give us all reason to be hopeful!

[alzak]

Thank you for being so informative , you described exactly what I have been through so far...
Stay healthy