Sexology profile of patients after spinal cord injury

Summary

Introduction:
Every year around 200 new cases of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury occur in the Czech Republic, it is around 100 cases in Slovakia. Injuries of spinal cord injury ranks among those with the greatest impact on patient’s physical and mental health. It significantly reduces quality of patient’s life. Due to the long-term consequences of varying size this injury ranks among the diseases with the greatest economic burden for the patient, family and health system. Sexual dysfunctions are a common consequence of the spinal trauma. The treatment of sexual disorders is an important part of rehabilitation and social reintegration of these patients and contributes to improving the quality of life.

Material and methods:
We examined sexual functions, respectively the scope of patients´ sexual dysfunctions with spinal cord injury. In particular, the sensitivity of the external genitalia, alterations in sexual desire after spinal cord injury, the quality of erections, frequency of intercourse and non-coital sexual practices, ejaculation and orgasmic pleasures. The target group included 67 men with a spinal cord injury. Patients from 15–60 years of age were treated at the androurology outpatient department of the St. Anne University Hospital in Brno. The examination was executed by means of questionnaires (the IIEF-5) and questionnaire of an own design. Descriptive and inductive statistics using the Wilcoxon paired test (P < 0.05) was used. The return rate of questionnaires was 44% (30 questionnaires).

Results and conclusions:
Spinal cord injuries relate to the young and the younger population, the average age of our patient group was 36.5 years. Spinal cord trauma affects a whole range of sexual functions. Reduced appetite for sex, reduced genital sensitivity, erectile dysfunction, anejaculation, orgasmic disorder and the resulting reduced frequency of sexual intercourse compared to the period before the accident we are common symptoms. The most common sexual dysfunction is the ejaculatory disorders. Most patients we are not treated. To improve erectile function patients used oral PDE-5 inhibitors, similarly large group were not treated, and only a small group of clients bought medicines accessible.

The study is an inquiry into patients’ sexual life after spinal cord injury. It points out that the spinal lesion affects the whole spectrum of sexual functions, which significantly reduce the patient´s life. The most important thing in this issue is an active approach of urologist-andrologist, possibly sexologist, but a general practitioner as well.

Keywords:
spinal cord injury – sexual dysfunction