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Evaluation of knowledge of priapism in sickle cell patients in Senegal

  • Urology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Purpose

Erectile dysfunction is a dreadful complication of priapism especially with delay in diagnosis and management. The lack of awareness of priapism as a vaso-occlusive complication of sickle cell disease (SCD) is more concerning. The objective of this study was to evaluate the burden of priapism in adult Senegalese males adults with sickle cell disease.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out amongst consecutive consenting males aged 18 years and older with SCD presenting to the in Haematology Department of the National Blood Transfusion Centre (Dakar, Senegal). All participants completed a questionnaire detailing knowledge on the definition of priapism, its association with SCD, consequences of untreated priapism and treatment options.

Results

A total of 219 participants completed the questionnaire. The mean age of the respondents was 27.1 years with a range of (18—54).

Of the respondents, 78.5% (n = 172) did not have any knowledge of the term “priapism”. After the term was explained, 38.4% (n = 84) thought that there may be a risk of developing priapism given the diagnosis of sickle cell disease. Among the participants, 41.5% (n = 91) reported having a history of priapism.

Among all patients who experienced priapism, 36.3% (n = 33) did not seek medical attention with episodes of priapism. It was found that 48.4% (n = 106) of the participants thought there may be a risk of irreversible complications associated with priapism and a corresponding proportion, 42% (n = 92) thought this risk was time dependent. 36.5% (n = 80) of patients believed priapism could lead to erectile dysfunction.

Conclusion

Priapism is a common complication of sickle cell disease in Senegalese adults which is not well known by sickle cell patients. The health authorities must undertake efforts to raise awareness of priapism as a complication amongst sickle cell patients.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [OG], upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to National Blood Transfusion Center (Senegal).

Funding

No external funding available to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Urology Department of Dalal Jamm Hospital, Dakar, Senegal

    Oumar Gaye & Papa Ahmed Fall

  2. National Blood Transfusion Center, Dakar, Senegal

    Moussa Seck, Mourtalla Gueye, Sokhna Aicha Toure, Blaise Felix Faye & Saliou Diop

  3. Urology Department of the General Hospital Idrissa Pouye, Dakar, Senegal

    Ngor Mack Thiam, Mohamed Jalloh, Madina Ndoye & Lamine Niang

Authors
  1. Oumar Gaye
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  2. Moussa Seck
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  4. Sokhna Aicha Toure
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  5. Blaise Felix Faye
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  6. Ngor Mack Thiam
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Contributions

OG, MS, SMG, PAF and SD initiated the project. OG and SMG developed and conducted the search. OG, MS, SMG developed the outline and refined the summaries of results, which was revised. NMT, SAT, BFF, MJ, MN, LN, PAF, SD reviewed the appropriateness of the statistical analysis and the whole manuscript. All authors reviewed and provided intellectual contributions to the draft manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oumar Gaye.

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There is no conflict of interest to declare.

Ethical approval

Our institutional review Board approved this study.

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A written and signed consent was received from the patient for publication of this report.

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Gaye, O., Seck, M., Gueye, M. et al. Evaluation of knowledge of priapism in sickle cell patients in Senegal. Int Urol Nephrol 55, 2169–2175 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-023-03628-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-023-03628-8

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