Venous surgery for impotence.

Venous surgery for impotence is in a dynamic state. The drainage of the corpora cavernosa normally occurs through the crural veins or the cavernous veins and the deep dorsal penile vein. Patients with drainage seen on cavernosography only into a superficial system that persists after injection of intracavernous vasoactive agents are likely to have good results if this drainage is eliminated. This type of patient is not common. A surgical approach that attempts to eliminate the deep dorsal penile system or the crural veins is not as successful. Perhaps subtle arterial disease, concurrent presence of neurologic disease, and collateralization all add to the significant failure rate. Many failures of spontaneous erection will, however, respond to intracavernous injection of vasoactive agents postoperatively. Deep dorsal vein arterialization probably should be reserved for those patients who have an arterial component to their impotence as well as a venogenic cause.