To evaluate the role of oral pentoxifylline for enhancing the recovery of erectile function (EF) in patients who had a T-shunt, a technically simple procedure for treating prolonged ischaemic priapism, as the recovery of EF has been reported in many patients treated by this procedure.This prospective randomised study was conducted on 40 patients with prolonged ischaemic priapism treated with a T-shunt. Patients were randomly divided into two groups; group A received oral pentoxifylline from the second day after surgery for 3months, and group B received placebo. Patients were followed for 18months.The pain resolved in all patients, and EF recovered in 15 patients in group A and 10 in group B within 3months. All patients but three had recovery of EF within the 18-month follow-up. Six patients had recovery of EF by using on-demand 50mg sildenafil. The three patients who did not recover EF had a penile prosthesis implanted after the end of the study.Pentoxifylline had no significant effect on the recovery of EF after a T-shunt procedure, but a larger study (double-blinded) is required for a more accurate assessment of any beneficial effect of pentoxifylline after a T-shunt procedure.