Impotence and diabetes mellitus

Impotence is a rather frequent symptom in the diabetic patient. The aetiology of this problem is not clear. Urodynamic and hormonal examinations have been performed in a group of 10 diabetics with impotence in order to evaluate its neurogenic and endocrine factor. The determination of the parameters that effect micturition are dependent on the erector nerve, which at the same time participates in erection, demonstrating the existence of a neuropathy of the erector nerve and shows if it is responsible for the impotence. The hormonal examinations were all normal. The different urodynamic alterations which have been found are tabulated and the importance of a simple determination of voiding time, as a proof in the screening of these patients, is emphasized.