SEXUAL FUNCTION AFTER ILEAL POUCH-ANAL ANASTOMOSIS

After restorative proctocolectomy, both men and women report an improv ed sexual life primarily because of a better general health. Sexual dy sfunction has been reported by a few men who complain of lack of or re trograde ejaculation (2 %) or impotence (3 %). Sexual dysfunction, esp ecially dyspareunia, can persist in as many as 20 % of women after ile oanal anstomosis, but is less severe than preoperatively in most and i s less common than after ileostomy, whether continent or not. Women wi th an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis can conceive, and have had successf ul deliveries, either vaginally or by cesarean section, without long-t erm detrimental effects on ileal reservoir function. Indeed, stool fre quency increased and continence worsened in a small group of ileoanal anastomosis women but the changes were minimal and returned to predeli very status 3 months after delivery.