Penis Length After Prostate Surgery

How can the nightmare of a radical prostatectomy (RP) get even worse? Your penis is shorter after the procedure.

Is there any good news? Yes, it grows back. Eventually.

Researchers in Brazil and Japan conducted independent studies and concluded that you can lose about a centimeter of your member following the surgical procedure meant to remove the prostate gland and tissue surrounding it. It's a not-uncommon treatment for localized prostate cancer. The usual complaints after RP are urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, but many patients also complain that their penis is shorter.

"Penile shortening of approximately 1 cm after RP may be expected up to 12 months. However, a trend toward recovery of baseline penile length occurs after 24 months of follow-up and, furthermore, is completely re-established after 48 months," wrote the authors of the study performed at the Pedro Ernesto Memorial Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. "The maintenance of erectile function after RP is a predictor for early recovery of penile length." The study involved 105 men with localized prostate cancer who were treated by open RP.

At the Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, another team of researchers measured the stretched penis length of 102 patients before surgery and 10 days after. Patients were again assessed at one, three, six, nine, twelve, eighteen, and twenty-four months after undergoing surgery. The scientists also measured the perpendicular distance from the distal end of the membranous urethra to the midline of the pelvic outlet with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These MRI scans were done before surgery, 10 days after surgery, and again at 12 months after surgery. The team learned that stretched penile length was the shortest at 10 days after surgery, with a mean penile length shortening of 19.9 mm. Happily, it gradually recovered.

How much your johnson shrinks depends upon the size of the removed prostate, the Japanese scientists discovered.