Frailty does not predict postoperative complications following inflatable penile prosthesis surgery

Abstract Introduction Frailty, an approximation of a patient’s reserve resulting from age-associated decline across multi-organ systems, has been shown to be an independent predictor of adverse outcomes. Amongst penile prosthesis surgery however, frailty is an underutilized risk factor with conflicting data regarding its impact on surgical outcomes. Objective To evaluate the association between the modified Frailty Index (mFI) and adverse outcomes following inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) surgery. Methods A retrospective chart review of men who underwent IPP surgery between 1/1/13 and 7/31/20 at a single-institution was conducted. Patient frailty was defined using the mFI, a previously validated measure, which consists of 11 patient characteristics. Each variable is allotted 1 point with aggregate scores ranging from 0 (no frailty) to 11 (highest degree of frailty). Complications were defined as mechanical failure, erosion, infection, hematoma, intractable pain, or other (ex. herniated reservoir, pump revision). Logistic regression was used to determine the association between mFI and complications after controlling for predetermined covariates. Results The final cohort consisted of 337 IPP patients with a median age of 64.6 years (IQR 58.5-68.4) and a median time from surgery to data collection of 66.6 months (IQR 39.0-85.4). The overall complication rate was 9.8% (n=33) with 63.6% of those (n=21) requiring a surgical intervention (ex. explant, remove/replace, revision). The median mFI for patients with a complication was 2 (IQR 1-3) while the median mFI for those without a complication was 1 (IQR 1-2) (Table 1). When adjusting for confounding variables on multivariable analysis, mFI was not associated with either overall (p=0.20) or operative complications (p=0.69) (Table 2). Conclusions While specific frailty metrics such as handgrip strength have been shown to be associated with complications following IPP placement, our results suggest that overall mFI was not associated with adverse outcomes following IPP surgery. Disclosure Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: Boston Scientific.