Abstract
Intracavernosal injection therapy is a second-line therapeutic approach in the management of erectile dysfunction utilized when oral phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors are found to be ineffective or not tolerated due to side effects. First introduced in the 1980s, they are commonly used as part of a penile rehabilitation program in men who have undergone radical pelvic surgery (prostatectomy, cystoprostatectomy). Intracavernosal injection therapy involves the direct injection of alprostadil, phentolamine, and papaverine separately or in combination into the corpus cavernosum of the penis. Appropriately training men in the use of intracavernosal injections will diminish potential complications of therapy, including priapism. Priapism may occur in men who self-adjust their dose or who are not closely monitored. It should be treated as a medical emergency requiring immediate evaluation and intervention.
Keywords
- Erectile dysfunction
- Intracavernosal injection
- Penile injection therapy
- Priapism
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Narus, J.B. (2017). Intracavernosal Injection Training. In: Mulhall, J., Jenkins, L. (eds) Atlas of Office Based Andrology Procedures. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42178-0_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42178-0_17
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Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42178-0
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