Evaluation of patients after treatment of arterial priapism with selective micro-embolization

Arterial (high-flow) priapism is characterized by a prolonged non-painful erection without sexual arousal as a result of unregulated inflow of blood to the corpus cavernosum. Treatment is based on decreasing this elevated inflow, primarily by means of selective arteriography and embolization. The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment of patients with arterial priapism.

In the period between 1990 and 2004, 10 patients with arterial priapism were admitted to our department. The mean age when priapism developed was 32 years (range 11-62 years). Eight patients were treated with selective embolization, one was operated on and one refused treatment. Nine patients completed a standardized questionnaire which included the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5). The mean follow-up time after treatment was 70 months.

All patients treated with selective embolization achieved reduced tumescence. Six out of eight patients had an improved IIEF-5 score after treatment. In nine men, the etiology of the arterial priapism was perineal trauma. In one case, an anomaly with an accessory artery to the corpus cavernosum was diagnosed, which required surgery, and in one case recurrence of the priapism necessitated a second embolization.

Selective embolization results in reduced tumescence and an improvement in erectile function in patients with arterial priapism. Trauma to the perineum was the main etiology in this study.