Pre- and Post-Injection Needle Pain in Patients Undergoing First Intracavernosal Injection

Intracavernosal injections (ICI) are a well-established treatment option for men with erectile dysfunction (ED); however, the anticipation of pain with injection remains a significant barrier to the use of ICI.

To evaluate the patient-anticipated degree of pain versus the experienced degree of pain pre- and post-ICI in men undergoing their first injection with an erectile agent.

We studied 51 patients who underwent their first ICI in our men's health clinic. Anticipated needle-associated pain was judged with a pre-injection score, and pain experienced during the injection was judged with a post-injection score. All patients graded their pre- and post-ICI pain using a standard 10-point scale (0-10).

Pre- and post-ICI pain was defined with the visual analogue scale (0-10) in men undergoing their first penile injection.

Medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs) of the patients' age [65 years (54.5-68.0)], pre-injection pain [5 (4-7)], and post-injection pain [1 (1-2)] were recorded. Most men in the study had erectile dysfunction (68.6%) and/or Peyronie's Disease (64.7%). The average pre-injection prediction pain score was 5.45 ± 2.15; the average post-injection perceived pain score was 1.20 ± 0.73. Thus, there was an average discrepancy of over 4 points in predicted pain vs perceived pain. A paired t-test was performed which showed a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-injection scores (P < .05). A Wilcoxson Signed Rank Test showed statistical significance in the difference between pre- and post-injection pain scores (P < .05).

ICI is a safe, effective treatment for patients with ED and is associated with significantly less pain than is anticipated by patients.

This is the first report to describe the discrepancy between pre-ICI anticipated pain and post-ICI experienced pain. Limitations include an overall small sample size.

Patients experience significantly less pain with ICI than they anticipate having. This represents an important factor to consider when counseling patients about available ED treatments. Baird B, Wajswol E, Ericson C et al. Pre- and Post-Injection Needle Pain in Patients Undergoing First Intracavernosal Injection. J Sex Med 2022;19:590-593.