[Assessment of vascular factor in erectile dysfunction occurred following surgical intervention]

Study of 33 subjects with erectile dysfunction after undergoing pelvic surgery, who were stratified in two groups: 16 where surgery appears to have no relation with the dysfunction and 17 where surgery appears to be the cause of the condition. They were compared with 151 cases with arterial dysfunction. Mean age in the group with surgery-related dysfunction (60 +/- 9.6) is higher than in the group with no relation (51.6 +/- 6.7) (p < 0.05), and in both cases similar to the group with arterial-related impotence. Both groups have vascular risk factors, superposed to those who had arteriogenic dysfunction. All flow-rate parameters in the baseline eco-doppler, degree of erectile response after intracavitary injection and flow-rate parameters after ICI can be superposed to those found in the arterial-related impotence. This suggests the existence of a likely pre-existent arterial disease which becomes unstable after surgery as a result of the vascular and nervous lesions as well as due to psychological changes. We insist on the need to gather information prior to surgery, and in the basically vascular nature of erectile dysfunctions developed in subjects who undergo pelvic surgery.