The Erectile Response to Intracavernosal Injection of Prostaglandin E1 in Spinal Cord Injured Men

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To study the erectile response to intracavernosal injection of prostaglandin E1 in 33 spinal cord injured men with neurogenic erectile dysfunction. METHOD: The erectile response was assessed by the penile palpation. Thirty three subjects (mean age, 35.5 years) were studied. They received a testing dosage starting from 2.5 microgram with increasing dosage (maximum 40 microgram) to achieve an erection. The positive response accounts for the sufficient erection lasting for more than 30 minutes. RESULTS: After the injection, 30 subjects (90.9%) achieved the positive response and the mean duration of erection was 59.2 minutes. Of the 30 positive responders, the mean dosage needed to induce positive response was 5.8 microgram in the patients with cervical cord injury (12 subjects), 13.1 microgram in the patients with thoracic cord injury (12 subjects), and 33.3 microgram in the patients with lumbar cord injury (6 subjects). The mean dosage required for the positive response was different according to the pre-injection erectile function of the subjects. For the positive response, it required 7.7 microgram in a full erection with short duration group (14 subjects), 9.4 microgram in a partial erection group (8 subjects), and 30.6 microgram in no erection group (8 subjects). No systemic side effect or complication was noted except for the prolonged erection in 1 subject. CONCLUSION: The intracavernosal injection of prostaglandin E1 appears to be a safe and effective treatment for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in spinal cord injured men. The dosage depends on the level of spinal cord injury and pre-injection erectile function.