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New aspects in the treatment of priapism
Author(s) -
Portillo F. J. Martínez,
Jünemann K. P.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
andrologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1439-0272
pISSN - 0303-4569
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0272.1999.tb01451.x
Subject(s) - priapism , medicine , intracavernous injection , erectile dysfunction , shunting , blood flow , surgery , penile prosthesis , modalities , intensive care medicine , cardiology , social science , sociology
Summary. Recent advances in the understanding of erectile physiology have improved the prompt diagnosis and treatment of priapism. During initial assessment, the physician must distinguish between veno‐occlusive low flow (ischemic) and arterial high flow (nonischemic) in order to choose the correct treatment option for each type of priapism. Patient history, physical examinition, penile haemodynamics and corporeal metabolic blood quality assist the distinction between static and dynamic priapism. Normally, priapism is effectively treated with intracavernous vasoconstrictive agents or surgical shunting. However, when these two methods fail, subsequent treatment procedures are a matter for debate. Alternative options, such as intracavernous injection of methylene blue or selective penile arterial embolization, for the management of high and low flow priapism are described and a survey of current treatment modalities is presented.