MESSM Penile Implant Summer School: Avoiding Infections

Sometimes vacations and work blend together in the best possible way.

Yesterday, while spending a few days in #Istanbul, I traded this view of the Sea of Marmara from the Asian side of the city, in Kadıköy, for my laptop for 15 minutes (thanks to 5G) — to join the MESSM Penile Implant Summer School and speak about one of the complications every penile implant surgeon works hard to avoid: #infection.

And I was very happy to do so.

Penile implant surgery is a highly rewarding field, but becoming a skilled surgeon involves much more than just learning how to insert a device.

It means learning how to screen and counsel patients, prevent complications, recognize them early, and manage them when they occur.

Three messages I tried to convey to the participants:

1️⃣ Manage expectations.
“Underpromise and overdeliver.” Patients need realistic counseling—including an open discussion about infection and other potential complications.

2️⃣ Prevention is a chain—and it is only as strong as its weakest link.
Patient optimization, the operating room environment, antibiotics, surgical technique, minimizing implant contact with the skin, the device itself, wound care… there is no single magic step.

Excellence comes from getting all the small steps right.

3️⃣ Salvage is possible. – Complications can occur, even for experienced surgeons. Expertise does not mean pretending they never happen; it means doing everything possible to prevent them, recognizing them quickly, and knowing how to manage or salvage the implant appropriately.

And perhaps there is a fourth lesson? Penile implant surgery is a #team effort. When a difficult case is beyond your experience, call a colleague. There is strength, not weakness, in asking for help.

Supporting and training the next generation of penile implant surgeons is therefore incredibly important. Surgical training programs like this one allow younger colleagues to learn not only how to perform the “perfect” procedure, but also the decision-making process leading up to surgery and how to manage the difficult situations that inevitably arise afterward.

If we want penile prosthetic surgery to continue to become safer and better, sharing our experiences is part of our responsibility.

A very worthwhile 15-minute break from my vacation—and then back to the sunshine in Istanbul. 🇹🇷🌊

Thank you to MESSM and the Surgical School for the invitation and for investing in education in prosthetic urology. Thank you Prof. Dr. Osama Shaeer and the other faculty members.