Erectile Dysfunction in Paraplegic Males

In the U.S. there are over 300,000 people who suffer from spinal cord injuries. This incident increases every year by 10,000 to 12,000 new patients (Harrop et al., 2006). In Canada, about 36,000 people live with spinal cord injuries, while 55% of them, are people in the reproductive phase of their life, aged 16-30 years, and the ratio of men to women is calculated to 4 /1(Mittmann et al., 2005). For several years there was a myth in societies that people with paraplegia or quadriplegia have no sexuality, do not have erectile function and that they are infertile. In fact, sexual expression is a component of personality and it is independent to the erectile function or fertility status. In handicaps lack of sexual interest is associated with social withdrawal and inability to recover while sexual alertness is associated with faster and better recovery. The degree of sexual rehabilitation is directly related to physical rehabilitation, social integration and quality of life (Biering-Sorensen & Sonksen, 2001; Fisher et al., 2002). Last years the medical community emphasizes on quality of life and sexuality of people with spinal cord injuries. It is shown that the 66% of patients with spinal cord injuries consider their erection sufficient for sexual activity. The incidence of injury on the person's sexual function depends on the location and the extent of the damage. After Spinal Cord Lesions (SCL), both men and women are reporting decreased desire and low frequency of sexual activity (Deforge et al., 2006).