Evidence mapPaperPMID 41583266Full record

ReviewCureus2025

Laminar Airflow in Penile Prosthesis Surgery and Infection: An Empty Systematic Review.

Muhammad Umair Shafiq, Prasenjit Bhowmik, Sachin Yallappa, Mushtaq Hussain, Mustafa Ahmad

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Muhammad Umair ShafiqUrology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, GBR.
Prasenjit BhowmikUrology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, GBR.
Sachin YallappaUrology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, GBR.
Mushtaq HussainUrology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Birmingham, GBR.
Mustafa AhmadUrology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, GBR.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Penile prosthesis (PP) infection is uncommon but serious. Laminar airflow/ultraclean ventilation (LAF/UCV) aims to reduce airborne bioburden, but its clinical impact on PP infection is unclear. We registered a protocol in PROSPERO (CRD420251128507) and followed PRISMA 2020/PRISMA-S, searching MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase (Ovid), Cochrane CENTRAL, CINAHL, and Dimensions (no date limits), screening reference lists/forward citations, and reviewing professional guidance. Eligible studies were randomised or non-randomised comparative PP studies reporting infection by LAF/UCV versus conventional ventilation; portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)/UV recirculators were excluded a priori. Two reviewers independently screened the results; meta-analysis was prespecified if appropriate, otherwise a narrative synthesis was used. Of 99 records (98 databases; 1 other), 26 duplicates were removed; 72 titles/abstracts were screened; 2 full texts were assessed. As a result, no study met the inclusion criteria, and no meta-analysis was possible. Indirect evidence from orthopaedic, breast, vascular, and cardiac surgery shows no consistent reduction in deep surgical-site infection with LAF compared with conventional ventilation under real-world conditions where unidirectionality can be disrupted by door openings, staff/equipment movement, and thermal plumes. Evidence from other specialties is indirect and of uncertain applicability to penile prosthesis surgery. No eligible comparative penile prosthesis studies evaluating LAF/UCV versus conventional ventilation were identified; this is therefore an empty systematic review. Pending procedure-specific data, practice should prioritise multimodal infection-prevention bundles (e.g., antibiotic prophylaxis, "no-touch" technique, traffic control) and verification of ventilation performance during live use; future multicentre observational studies or cluster/stepped-wedge trials should prospectively capture ventilation parameters and key confounders to enable robust comparisons and cost-effectiveness analyses.

Indexed as

inflatable penile prosthesislaminar airflowoperating room ventilationpenile prosthesisprosthesis infectionprosthesis-related infectionssurgical site infectionultraclean ventilationunidirectional airflow

Identifiers

PMID41583266
PMCPMC12824822

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.