[Management of priapism in patients with sickle-cell anaemia]

Sickle-cell anaemia is an autosomal recessive hereditary haemoglobinopathy. Patients with sickle-cell anaemia present a high risk of priapism. At least 40% of sickle-cell patients report episodes of priapism. Priapism in patients with sickle-cell tend to start during childhood and rapidly threaten the erectile prognosis. Apart from specific treatment of sickle-cell anaemia, the urologist must be able to recognize forms of intermittent priapism and promote medical prevention. The urologist must also be able to distinguish low-flow priapism from the rarer high-flow priapism, as the treatments differ. Treatment strategies are increasingly well defined, with an increasingly limited place for surgery.