Mechanical failure study...very interesting..

[frwmw1]

23+53=76. So it's a small sample.

They obviously could not include the others of the 1105 procedures as a few could have been revised elsewhere. So the paper doesn't try to estimate the population of failures.

But I don't understand this part:

> Mechanical failure rate for virgin cases was similar between brands (26/581 AMS, 10/165 CP, p=.500).

[Hrc714]

When I had a mechanical failure at 3 years, I started paying attention to the time of failures reported on this site. I understand that folks with no issues may tend to stay quiet while folks with failures complain. Of those who complained, I noted very few failure complaints in the “expected” 10 year range, and many in the 2-5 year range.

The life data we see is reported by the manufacturers who benefit from optimistic projections. Life cycle is broken into infant mortality (manufacturing defects which show up very early), random failures during life cycle (typically small numbers) and wear out at end of life. Think care tires where some tires leak when installed, some small number of tires get a blowout during their life, and all tires wear out at 40k miles.

The other big deception is using “up to” in the advertising. LED lights last up to 40,000 hours. That was one bulb at optimal power and temperature conditions at manufacturing test. The expected life is actually 3000 hrs.

If the implant manufacturer sells you on a 10-15 life, then sells you a new unit every 5 years, that is a win for they and physicians on initial sale, and wins every 5 years or so thereafter with a captive market. As a businessman I admire that almost perfect business model. If it is not apparent, I personally am skeptical of manufacturers claims of 10-15 year expectation.

[newbie443]

When I had a mechanical failure at 3 years, I started paying attention to the time of failures reported on this site. I understand that folks with no issues may tend to stay quiet while folks with failures complain. Of those who complained, I noted very few failure complaints in the “expected” 10 year range, and many in the 2-5 year range.

The life data we see is reported by the manufacturers who benefit from optimistic projections. Life cycle is broken into infant mortality (manufacturing defects which show up very early), random failures during life cycle (typically small numbers) and wear out at end of life. Think care tires where some tires leak when installed, some small number of tires get a blowout during their life, and all tires wear out at 40k miles.

The other big deception is using “up to” in the advertising. LED lights last up to 40,000 hours. That was one bulb at optimal power and temperature conditions at manufacturing test. The expected life is actually 3000 hrs.

If the implant manufacturer sells you on a 10-15 life, then sells you a new unit every 5 years, that is a win for they and physicians on initial sale, and wins every 5 years or so thereafter with a captive market. As a businessman I admire that almost perfect business model. If it is not apparent, I personally am skeptical of manufacturers claims of 10-15 year expectation.

I posted a study where 15K men who received implants were used as a data base. And the results were in excess of 90% of devices lasting 10 years. This is not brag or speculation from the manufacturers. This is a study of a large number of men and I would bet a very large number of them have never heard of Frank Talk let alone posted on this site. My device is still working and coming up on 6 years. I am already past your life expectancy. And others on this site have post after 10 or more years with a working device.

If you look for failures you will find them. But if you look at all the publications they most all agree that the life span is 10 years on north of 90% of devices implanted.

[Hrc714]

I posted a study where 15K men who received implants were used as a data base. And the results were in excess of 90% of devices lasting 10 years. This is not brag or speculation from the manufacturers. This is a study of a large number of men and I would bet a very large number of them have never heard of Frank Talk let alone posted on this site. My device is still working and coming up on 6 years. I am already past your life expectancy. And others on this site have post after 10 or more years with a working device.

If you look for failures you will find them. But if you look at all the publications they most all agree that the life span is 10 years on north of 90% of devices implanted.

I had not seen the study(s) you referenced. Would be interested to read. I agree with your premise of tending to find the answer you set out to find. If a statically valid sample researched and published by an unbiased observer shows longer life spans, I will update my opinion (not intended to be presented as factual) and rest a bit easier on my prospects for future longevity!

[Sonny1986ams700]

I found this:
Risk of Mechanical Malfunction

The risk of mechanical failure increases with time and usage. A study of 438 consecutive patients who received the AMS 700 CX showed that 82 patients (20.6%) experienced mechanical failure with a median follow-up of 82 months.10.2.2022
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › pmc
Safety and Efficacy of Inflatable Penile Prostheses for the Treatment of ...

[Ronn1708]

Just to chime in with my two cents.....I have had so many failures it really is depressing. The longest a device has lasted was 3 years 10 months. The shortest was 3 months. (Well I had one that lasted less than a month because of a leak in the cylinder.) I know some guys have them last a long time but I have never been so lucky. I will add this though. I would have a surgery revision every year if it was necessary to keep it working. I mean you don't even feel like a man when it don't work. I have always had a Titan and hope to get a new one Feb 27. I have had both type pumps. I started with the One Touch and it lasted 3 years and 10 months before the bulb of the pump split open. He implanted a complete new device with One touch. Three months is failed. He went back in and just replaced the pump with a Classic. That was in March 2018, The device failed again in the fall of 2020. Since then I have had failures in the device and in my body where it failed and things busted open which holds the cylinders. I also found out that my Ligament had previous been cut in 2018 which I was unaware of and wasn't told it was done. No weights are anything to help keep it from mending back together. Scar tissue out the yang!! Anyways the journey continues and I am hanging on for dear life. Thankful my my current Doctor.... He and his team have been very good to me.

[Craigohbig]

When I had a mechanical failure at 3 years, I started paying attention to the time of failures reported on this site. I understand that folks with no issues may tend to stay quiet while folks with failures complain. Of those who complained, I noted very few failure complaints in the “expected” 10 year range, and many in the 2-5 year range.

The life data we see is reported by the manufacturers who benefit from optimistic projections. Life cycle is broken into infant mortality (manufacturing defects which show up very early), random failures during life cycle (typically small numbers) and wear out at end of life. Think care tires where some tires leak when installed, some small number of tires get a blowout during their life, and all tires wear out at 40k miles.

The other big deception is using “up to” in the advertising. LED lights last up to 40,000 hours. That was one bulb at optimal power and temperature conditions at manufacturing test. The expected life is actually 3000 hrs.

If the implant manufacturer sells you on a 10-15 life, then sells you a new unit every 5 years, that is a win for they and physicians on initial sale, and wins every 5 years or so thereafter with a captive market. As a businessman I admire that almost perfect business model. If it is not apparent, I personally am skeptical of manufacturers claims of 10-15 year expectation.

I posted a study where 15K men who received implants were used as a data base. And the results were in excess of 90% of devices lasting 10 years. This is not brag or speculation from the manufacturers. This is a study of a large number of men and I would bet a very large number of them have never heard of Frank Talk let alone posted on this site. My device is still working and coming up on 6 years. I am already past your life expectancy. And others on this site have post after 10 or more years with a working device.

If you look for failures you will find them. But if you look at all the publications they most all agree that the life span is 10 years on north of 90% of devices implanted.

Didn’t you say you had something fixed? Even if you have the same parts, I would still consider any cutting into your balls a revision

[Craigohbig]

They could 100% make that tubing indestructible…but they don’t.

[Hrc714]

Just to chime in with my two cents.....I have had so many failures it really is depressing. The longest a device has lasted was 3 years 10 months. The shortest was 3 months. (Well I had one that lasted less than a month because of a leak in the cylinder.) I know some guys have them last a long time but I have never been so lucky. I will add this though. I would have a surgery revision every year if it was necessary to keep it working. I mean you don't even feel like a man when it don't work. I have always had a Titan and hope to get a new one Feb 27. I have had both type pumps. I started with the One Touch and it lasted 3 years and 10 months before the bulb of the pump split open. He implanted a complete new device with One touch. Three months is failed. He went back in and just replaced the pump with a Classic. That was in March 2018, The device failed again in the fall of 2020. Since then I have had failures in the device and in my body where it failed and things busted open which holds the cylinders. I also found out that my Ligament had previous been cut in 2018 which I was unaware of and wasn't told it was done. No weights are anything to help keep it from mending back together. Scar tissue out the yang!! Anyways the journey continues and I am hanging on for dear life. Thankful my my current Doctor.... He and his team have been very good to me.

I was told that my failure at 3 years put me in the early 2% of failures. Statically, with that many failures all within the early 2% of patients failure timeframe, you on order of 1 in 100,000 implanted persons. Either an incredible coincidence , (like a virus developing naturally in the shadow of a virology lab) or we are not fully understanding the data.

[Lost Sheep]

https://www.auajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1097/JU.0000000000003352.10

This is a study involving 1105 implants. It's only one study, but that is a big sample

2 things of significant interest to me were that
(a) median time to revision for AMS was only 2 years and average time for Coloplast was only 4 years
(b) Coloplast was twice as durable as the AMS

Again, it's just one study, but I wasn't expecting those results

Mark1974,, I think you misinterpreted the study objective (and subsequently, came to an unwarranted conclusion)

The study stated "We sought to characterize IPP component failure at time of device revision and stratify by manufacturer [American Medical Systems (AMS) and Coloplast (CP)]"

The study included ONLY devices that had revisions. Those devices not requiring revision are excluded. Those devices are the ones implanted in the vast majority of patients.

Respectfully submitted