Through Clinical Observation: The History of Priapism After Spinal Cord Injuries

Since ancient times, physicians of antiquity noted the occurrence of priapism in some spinal cord injuries. Although priests saw it as a consequence of curses and witchcraft, after clinical observations of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the first medical hypotheses emerged in the 17th-19th centuries completed and argued by neuroscience and neurology developed in the European laboratories and hospitals. This study aims to present a short overview of the history of clinical observations of posttraumatic male priapism after spinal cord injuries since antiquity until the beginning of the 20th century.