The Management of Unplanned Erection during Endoscopic Urological Surgery

Penile erection at the time of urological surgery is a rare but problematic event which can delay, complicate or even lead to the cancellation of planned surgery. Erection may occur irrespective of the type of anesthetic method employed. Several techniques for treatment of this troublesome complication have been described in the literature, all with varying levels of success and potential adverse effects. In our experience over the last 25 years, we have found that intracavernous injection of ephedrine into the penis has a 100% success rate in safely producing detumescence with minimum side effects and should therefore be considered early among the treatment options for this condition.