Prostate cancer surgery can affect penis length

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- A study has found that men who have their prostate glands removed due to prostate cancer experience a shortening of their penis after surgery.

Research from the Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science in Japan has found that surgery to treat prostate cancer can result in a temporary shortening of the penis immediately after surgery.

Researchers examined 102 men who had undergone prostate cancer surgery and found that stretched penis length, or SPL, was shortened, and was at its shortest 10 days after surgery. The study measured the SPL before surgery and at 10 days, as well as at one, three, six nine, 12, 18 and 24 months after surgery.

The study found that the SPL eventually recovers to roughly what it was prior to surgery at the 12-month mark.

"The findings can help inform patients about changes in penile appearance after radical prostatectomy," Dr. Yoshifumi Kadono, of the Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science and lead author of the study, said in a press release.

The study was published in BJU International.