SIU Med School Offers New Procedure for Prostate Cancer Patients

A urology and plastic surgery team at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield is performing a new procedure, which can help men deal with a possible side effect of their prostate cancer treatment. The surgical procedure has the potential to preserve erectile function in prostate cancer patients when the erectile nerve cannot be spared or saved because of the cancer location or size. Ideally, the urologist performs a nerve-sparing surgery.

The procedure, known as a sural nerve graft, is performed during the surgery to remove the patient's prostate gland, known as radical retropubic prostatectomy. The procedure involves removing the sural nerve from the leg and then replacing or grafting it in place of the prostate nerve, which has been removed during surgery. Sometimes two nerve grafts are performed, one on each side of where the prostate was located.

"Performing this procedure does not guarantee that a man's erections will return or be preserved, but it could facilitate the process," said Dr. Jeff Karnes, assistant professor of urology at SIU.

Sural nerve grafts in conjunction with radical prostatectomies are not new to the medical community, but they are new to the downstate Illinois area. The SIU physicians have performed four procedures so far this year.

"Plastic surgeons use the sural nerve graft in many procedures, especially those involving the hands," said Dr. Michael Neumeister, associate professor of plastic surgery at SIU. "We were pleased to be involved in this surgical opportunity that has the potential to help men who suffer from the side effects of prostate cancer treatment. Because the nerve generates one inch per month, the true outcome for each man is not known for a year."

Karnes and Neumeister also are investigating the use of artificial nerve sheaths or conduits in lieu of grafts, avoiding the sural nerve harvest.

For more information about the procedure, contact SIU's Prostate Center, 217-545-7422 weekdays.

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NOTE: A JPG image of the surgeons taken during the surgical procedure is available. (photo) Cutline -- Dr. Jeff Karnes, a urologist at SIU School of Medicine (center left, wearing scopes), and Dr. Michael Neumeister, SIU plastic surgeon (far right) complete a sural nerve graft. The surgical procedure has the potential to preserve erectile function in prostate cancer patients.