Placenta-Derived Membrane Linked to Faster Erection Recovery After Prostate Surgery

A surgical technique using tissue derived from donated placentas has been linked to faster erectile recovery after prostate cancer surgery.

In 2026 findings involving more than 4,000 men, those who received dehydrated human amniotic membrane around the nerves involved in erections had their first erection after an average of seven days, compared with 14 days among controls.

The result is striking, but it comes from retrospective data and has not yet been confirmed in a completed randomized trial.

The Recovery Difference Appeared Early

Men who received dehydrated human amniotic membrane reached several erectile recovery milestones sooner than those in the comparison group.

The analysis included 2,560 men who received dehydrated human amniotic membrane, or dHAM, during bilateral nerve-sparing robotic radical prostatectomy between 2014 and 2024. They were compared with 1,495 men who underwent nerve-sparing prostatectomy without dHAM.

Men in the dHAM group reached an erection sufficient for penetration after an average of 21 days, compared with 36 days in the control group.

The difference continued through later follow-up. Potency was reported in 75 percent of the dHAM group at three months, compared with 60 percent of controls. At six months, the figures were 87 percent and 78 percent.

At 12 months, potency was reported in 98 percent of men who received dHAM and 90 percent of controls. At 24 months, the figures were 98 percent and 94 percent.

Researchers also reported no detected difference in complications or cancer outcomes between the groups.

Related: Does Penis Size Really Matter? Asking for 50 Million Men

Why Nerve Recovery Matters After Surgery

Preserving the nerves during prostate surgery does not necessarily mean erectile function returns immediately.

The neurovascular bundles involved in erections run alongside the prostate. During nerve-sparing prostatectomy, surgeons try to preserve those structures when the location of the cancer allows.

Recovery can still take time. The American Cancer Society notes that erectile function after prostatectomy may return over months and, in some cases, take as long as two years.

Age, erectile function before surgery, and whether one or both nerve bundles can be preserved can all affect recovery.

The dHAM approach is being studied to support the tissue around those nerves during healing. Available findings do not show that the membrane regenerates nerves or guarantees restored erectile function.

What Surgeons Are Actually Using

The material is processed dehydrated human amniotic membrane, not an intact placenta.

dHAM is made from donated placental tissue and processed into a sheet that surgeons can position around the neurovascular bundles during surgery.

Reports describing the technique say sheets measuring about four by six centimeters are placed over the cavernous nerves and moistened with saline so they conform to the surrounding tissue.

The approach has been developing for more than a decade. Sanjay Razdan first described using dehydrated human amniotic membrane in robotic urologic surgery in 2014, and the large single-surgeon series behind the current findings is primarily associated with his work.

Earlier evidence pointed in the same direction. A 2018 matched retrospective study involving 700 men who received dHAM and 700 controls reported faster potency recovery, with 93.1 percent of the intervention group regaining potency at one year, compared with 87.1 percent of controls.

A 2022 literature review later examined placental-derived allografts used during radical prostatectomy. Five comparative studies were included in the outcome analysis, and the available evidence suggested faster functional recovery while also showing how limited the clinical literature remained.

The Study Design Leaves Important Uncertainty

The main limitation is how the two groups were assembled, not the dataset size.

The 2026 findings were presented at major urology meetings and also appeared in a related preprint. They have not yet been published as a full peer-reviewed journal paper with complete methods and statistical analysis.

The dataset comes from a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained single-center prostate cancer database. Procedures in the principal series were performed by one high-volume surgeon.

Patients were not randomly assigned to receive dHAM. The presentation indicated that patients ultimately made the decision.

The control group also came from an earlier treatment period. Men in that group underwent surgery before 2014, while patients receiving dHAM were treated from 2014 through 2024.

That creates a treatment era confounder. Surgical technique, postoperative rehabilitation, patient selection, and other aspects of care may have changed over those years, and the available data do not show how much those changes influenced the results.

For that reason, the findings show an association between dHAM use and faster recovery, not proof that the membrane itself caused the difference.

A Randomized Trial Could Provide a Clearer Answer

The next major step is testing the approach in patients who are randomly assigned rather than compared across different treatment periods.

A separate Phase 2 University of Miami trial called HAMMER is studying a related dehydrated human amnion chorion membrane approach after radical prostatectomy.

The trial has enrolled 118 participants and is active but no longer recruiting. Final results are not yet available.

Its randomized design could reduce several uncertainties in the retrospective series.

For now, the evidence points to a potentially meaningful improvement in sexual recovery after prostate surgery, but not a settled answer. The significance of the research lies less in the novelty of placental tissue than in a broader shift toward measuring what patients can regain after cancer treatment, not simply whether the surgery itself succeeds.

What role should sexual recovery play when patients and doctors weigh prostate cancer treatment options?

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