Treatment for Ejaculatory Dysfunction in Men With Spinal Cord Injury: An 18-Year Single Center Experience

Purpose: In what is to our knowledge the largest study of its kind to date we retrospectively reviewed the records of 3,152 semen retrieval procedures in a total of 500 men with spinal cord injury to make recommendations to the medical field on ejaculatory dysfunction treatment in this specialized patient population. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively studied data from 1991 to 2009 in the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis male fertility research program at our institution. We assessed the semen retrieval success rate and semen quality. Results: Of the 500 men 9% could ejaculate by masturbation. Penile vibratory stimulation was successful in 86% of patients with a T10 or rostral injury level. Electroejaculation was successful in most cases of failed penile vibratory stimulation. Sperm were obtained without surgical sperm retrieval, in 97% of patients completing the treatment algorithm. Total motile sperm counts exceeded 5 million in 63% of cases. Conclusions: Sperm can be easily obtained nonsurgically from most men with spinal cord injury. Sufficient sperm are available for simple insemination procedures. A treatment algorithm based on our experience is presented.