A Low-Cost Priapism Detumescence Simulator for Emergency Medicine Residents

Ischemic priapism is an emergent condition requiring immediate intervention. However, the incidence is estimated to be very low. Given the low incidence of this pathology, some emergency medicine residents do not have the opportunity to perform needle aspiration, the critical procedure to achieve detumescence. We sought to fill this void by creating low-cost, high-fidelity trainers for emergency medicine resident procedural competency.

Using items obtained online and through our hospital's simulation department, we created a low-cost priapism trainer from previously described literature. Residents completed a lecture, lab, and short post-course survey regarding helpfulness, realism, prior procedure experience, and future applicability of our training device. Descriptive data were calculated using the median with interquartile range.

The trainer cost roughly $25 to create per unit. All participants rated the trainer a 5 for helpfulness. When asked if the lab appeared realistic, there were overly positive responses with a median of 5 (interquartile range [IQR] 4-5), with every respondent selecting either realistic (4 on the Likert scale) or very realistic (5 on the Likert scale). All participants (100%) agreed that they would recommend the use of this trainer for future medical students and residents.

Priapism, specifically ischemic priapism, is truly an emergent condition requiring immediate intervention. The incidence of this condition is low, and some emergency medicine residents may not have the opportunity to perform the procedure during training. Given the need for simulated experiences, we developed a low-cost, high-fidelity trainer that was found to be helpful and realistic to emergency medicine residents. While other models exist, our model minimizes cost while maximizing realism.