Posttraumatic erectile potential of spinal cord injured men: How physiologic recordings supplement subjective reports

Objective: To investigate by means of a neurophysiologic model the remainin g erectile function in spinal cord injured men. Design: A nonrandomized control trial. Setting: A Referred Care Center. Subjects: Forty-seven spinal cord injured men and 7 noninjured controls. Intervention: The subject penile responses were recorded by a penile strain gauge during two sessions-one to obtain baseline responses, and one with r eflexogenic stimulation (masturbation) and psychogenic stimulation (film). Measures: Average tumescence, maximal tumescence, percentage rigidity, and duration of tumescence and rigidity. Results: Significant results were found for subjects with lower lesions usi ng psychogenic stimulation as their optimal mode compared with reflexogenic stimulation as an alternate mode, and for subjects with higher lesions usi ng reflexogenic stimulation as their optimal mode, compared with psychogeni c stimulation as an alternate mode. The responses with optimal stimulation modes were comparable to those achieved by controls. Conclusion: The findings validate the neurophysiologic model of posttraumat ic erectile potential as a function of the lesion type and stimulation sour ce. The results were comparable to those of noninjured subjects; the potent ial for normal function is present and may be amenable to sexual rehabilita tion or use in conjunction with new oral drug treatments for impotence. (C) 1999 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Americ an Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.