Number of men given ‘bionic willies’ on the NHS to cure erectile dysfunction hits record high
MORE than 550 fellas were given “bionic willies” on the NHS last year.
A record number of penile ops were carried out after all other options to correct erection problems had flopped.
Some 556 men sported a new “penis prosthesis” in the year to last April, at around £9,000 each.
It cost NHS England a total of £5million and the number has ballooned from 399 operations the year before.
The rise is thought to be triggered by older men unable to perform for medical reasons, including cancer.
In one procedure, flexible rods are inserted into the flaccid pecker while another sees a water pump placed in the scrotum to inflate an otherwise unresponsive member.
In the last year, the average age of men undergoing the procedure was 58 — with 34 in their 30s.
Consultant urologist Gordon Muir, of London Bridge Hospital, said: “These operations have a very high success rate and they restore the ability of men to have intimacy with their partners, which is incredibly important.
“The typical patient will be somebody who suffers from erectile dysfunction because of a pre-existing illness, most frequently prostate cancer or diabetes.”