HbA1c over 8.5% is not predictive of increased infection rate following penile prosthesis implant surgery in diabetic patients with erectile dysfunction

Diabetes mellitus is associated with increased risk of erectile dysfunction. Penile prosthesis implantation is an efficient therapeutic option for erectile dysfunction, but not without risk, as infection remains a prominent concern. This study investigates diabetes mellitus as a risk factor for penile prosthesis implantation infection and the relationship between haemoglobinA1c levels and infection rates. All diabetic patients with erectile dysfunction who underwent penile prosthesis implantation surgery between January 2012 and November 2019 at Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar, were included in this retrospective observational study. A total of 599 diabetic patients with erectile dysfunction had penile prosthesis implantation. Mean age was 59.69 ± 31.19. Penile prosthesis implantation infection rate was 0.83% (5/599), while the mean haemoglobinA1c level was 7.58 ± 1.45 mmol/l (range: 4.1–12.6). A comparison between diabetic patients with penile prosthesis implantation infection and those without infection revealed no significant difference in the level of haemoglobinA1c between the two groups with mean haemoglobinA1c in patients with infected implants 7.14 and 7.59 for noninfected (p = 0.491). Limitations include retrospective single-centre design and low-infection rates reducing sample number. Penile prosthesis implantation infection rate in a large series of diabetic patients was low with no significant association between haemoglobinA1c level and penile prosthesis implantation infection observed.