Intracavernosal injection therapy with and without sexological counselling in men with erectile dysfunction.

Abstract

To compare the acceptance of and satisfaction with intracavernosal injection (ICI) therapy with and without sexological counselling in men with erectile dysfunction (ED). In a prospective randomized study, men were alternately assigned to ICI without sexological counselling (-SC) or with sexological counselling (+SC). In all, 70 patients were included, i.e. 35 in each group; 57 (28 -SC, 29 +SC) were interviewed by telephone after a mean follow-up of 11.3 months to determine their use of ICI and reasons for discontinuing. There were no differences between the groups in discontinuation of ICI (overall 30%), in reasons for discontinuing ICI (24% did so because of the return of spontaneous erections) or in sexual functioning. There was no positive contribution from additional sexological counselling but extensive information and support by the urologist seems to be sufficient, resulting in a high acceptance rate of ICI. The discontinuation rate (30%) is one of the lowest reported.