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Carter et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2020;7:33 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2020.81 Page 13 of 15

Finally, our patients’ understanding of the day-by-day hospital course is greatly improved. Patients are
given individualized treatments, especially when encountering complications, but our CPW allows patient,
physician and nursing to be aligned as to each day’s expectations and treatments. Because of the predictable
safety profile provided by our post phalloplasty CPW, most phalloplasty patients can be safely discharged 5
days after the operation at our center.

CONCLUSION
We have described some of the more common postoperative complications and have summarized some
of the established surgical techniques in the literature to date to address these complications. We have also
described several more experimental techniques, many of which include promising new technology to
further optimize the results of phalloplasty. Each of these techniques represents a modest but important
improvement towards the goal of a safe and reproducible surgery with optimal results and minimized risk of
complications.

We and others endeavor to constantly evaluate and improve the steps of this surgery and investigate new
concepts and materials in this field in an ongoing effort to further improve outcomes. We have had good
success with these techniques at our high-volume center, although more thorough investigation and
quantification of these patient outcomes is needed. Ultimately, with continued innovation and sharing of
improved surgical techniques, it may be possible to better standardize care and improve the aesthetic and
functional outcomes of this incredibly complex and increasingly common surgery.

DECLARATIONS
Authors’ contributions
Made substantial contribution to the conception and design of the study and performed data analysis and
interpretation: Carter EE, Crane CN, Santucci RA

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
None.

Conflicts of interest
All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
An informed consent to participate was obtained from the patients.

Consent for publication
A written informed consent for publication was obtained.

Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020.

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