Monday, August 8, 2005
Underutilized Prosthetic Testicles Improve Quality of Life
Filed under: Urology
More news from Mentor -- the people who brought back silicone breast implants. Now, they're proving they're an equal-opportunity company by working to popularize the artificial testicle, with new evidence that it improves mens' quality of life:
Dr. Paul Turek ... set out to see if the benefits of testicular implants were deeper than just cosmetic by heading a clinical trial involving 149 implant recipients. The study, published in the October 2004 issue of the Journal of Urology, concluded that recipients enjoyed a significant boost in their quality of life......The prime market for the prosthetic testicle comprises men who have had a testicle removed because of testicular cancer or other trauma, or those who were born with an undescended testicle that had to be removed, said Dr. Jon Pryor, chairman of urological surgery at the University of Minnesota.
The surgical procedure is easy, low-risk and takes from 15 minutes to 20 minutes, Pryor said. The worst thing that can happen is that the site can become infected, but then the prosthetic testicle can be removed.
"It doesn't have as much to do with health as it does with treating a disfigurement or improving the patient's psychological health," Pryor said.
Self-esteem is important, of course. But we're reminded of the unfortunate kid in eigth grade who confided in a few select friends about his undescended testicle, and within days had earned the indelible nickname, "Uno."
Our impression of the story is: kids are cruel, privates are private, and surgically implanting a saline-filled ball in one's scrotum isn't going to erase years of trauma.
And even with the implant, it seems there's still room for... improvement (more after the jump):
(2)
