Penile prosthesis: psychologic factors.

A thirty-one-year-old paraplegic male requested a penile prosthesis. Psychiatric evaluations were done of both the patient and his wife. Within seventy-two hours of his arriving home with the prosthesis installed, his wife left their house to seek a divorce. The implications of this event for selecting patients for such devices are explored. Reservations are expressed about a prosthesis being inserted for patients married after the onset of impotence.