With reference to Where can I find help files or documentation for commands like \@startsection for LaTeX?, here is the definition of \subsubsection within IEEEtran.cls:
\def\subsubsection{%
\@startsection
{subsubsection} % name
{3} % level
{\parindent} % indent
{0ex plus 0.1ex minus 0.1ex} % beforeskip
{0ex} % afterskip
{\normalfont\normalsize\itshape}% style
}%
Note that the afterskip length is 0ex (not positive):
afterskip: If positive, then skip to leave below heading, else negative of skip to leave to right of run-in heading.
As such, \subsubsection will be set as a run-in heading. That is, no following line/paragraph break. If you want this, use some length that is positive. Here's an example that matches the definition of \subsection's afterskip:

\documentclass{IEEEtran}
\def\thesubsubsectiondis{\thesubsectiondis\arabic{subsubsection}}
\makeatletter
\def\subsubsection{%
\@startsection
{subsubsection} % type
{3} % level
{\parindent} % indent
{3.5ex plus 1.5ex minus 1.5ex} % beforeskip {0ex plus 0.1ex minus 0.1ex}
{0.7ex plus .5ex minus 0ex} % afterskip {0ex}
{\normalfont\normalsize\itshape}% style
}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\section{A section}
Lorem ipsum \ldots
\subsection{A subsection}
Lorem ipsum \ldots
\subsubsection{A subsubsection}
Lorem ipsum \ldots
\end{document}
You'll see that I also changed the beforeskip to that of \subsection. Using the default seemed strange.