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Infection Prevention in Penile Implant Surgery: Our Protocol, Step by Step
No surgeon can honestly promise zero infections. What a surgeon can do is control every controllable factor, every time. This is the infection-prevention protocol we run for every penile implant — before, during, and after surgery.
Before surgery: preparing the skin and the patient
- Pre-operative antibiotics, dosed and timed so tissue levels are right when the incision is made — consistent with AUA guidance on prosthesis prophylaxis.
- Antiseptic washes at home — patients wash with chlorhexidine (Hibiclens) before surgery to reduce the skin’s bacterial load days before we ever reach the operating room.
- Chlorhexidine wipes in pre-op — a final antiseptic pass in the pre-operative area, on top of the at-home preparation.
In the operating room: controlling the environment
- All-disposable plastic drapes — no outside linen. Cloth linens shed lint, and airborne lint can carry bacteria onto a sterile field. Every drape in our implant cases is single-use synthetic; laundered linen does not enter the room.
- Low operating-room traffic. Every door opening stirs the air over the sterile field, so the room is kept closed and the team small for the duration of the case.
- A dedicated intraoperative prep of the surgical site, beyond the standard scrub, before the first incision.
- No-touch technique. The implant itself is handled so that it never contacts skin or anything that has touched skin before it enters the body.
After placement: leaving nothing for bacteria to feed on
Blood is a culture medium. A hematoma — a collection of blood around the device — gives bacteria both a home and a meal, so the final phase of the protocol is maximal hematoma avoidance: meticulous control of bleeding before closing, and a drain when indicated so fluid cannot pool around the prosthesis while the first days of healing seal the space.
Why we track and publish our results
A protocol only means something if you measure whether it works. Our practice co-authored a multicenter investigation of the organisms involved in penile prosthesis infection (Gross et al., J Sex Med 2017), and we publish our own tracked infection rate — with its full methodology and honest caveats — on our outcomes & safety page. That is where the numbers live, in context, the way they should be read.
Frequently asked questions about implant infection
How common is infection after penile implant surgery?
Infection is the most serious complication of implant surgery, which is why prevention gets this much engineering. Rates differ between first-time and revision surgery. We publish our own tracked rate, with full methodology and honest caveats, on our outcomes page rather than quoting numbers out of context.
Why is there no cloth linen in the operating room?
Cloth linens shed lint, and airborne lint particles can carry bacteria onto a sterile field. Our implant cases use all-disposable synthetic plastic drapes instead, and outside linen stays out of the room.
What is the no-touch technique?
A method of implant handling in which the device is never touched by gloves or skin that have contacted the patient’s skin surface. It minimizes the chance of transferring skin bacteria onto the prosthesis before it enters the body.
What can I do at home to lower my own risk?
Follow the pre-surgical washing instructions exactly — antiseptic (Hibiclens) washes at home before surgery — and report any skin breakdown, rash, or urine symptoms before your date. Prevention is a partnership, and the at-home preparation genuinely matters.
This article is patient education and does not replace a medical consultation. Individual results and experiences vary. Discuss your specific case with your urologist.
Ask us to walk you through the protocol in person.
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