Intracavernosal injection therapy with and without sexological counselling in men with erectile dysfunction.

Objective: To compare the acceptance of and satisfaction with intracavernosal injection (ICI) therapy with and without sexological counselling in men with erectile dysfunction (ED).

Patients And Methods: In a prospective randomized study, men were alternately assigned to ICI without sexological counselling (-SC) or with sexological counselling (+SC). In all, 70 patients were included, i.e. 35 in each group; 57 (28 -SC, 29 +SC) were interviewed by telephone after a mean follow-up of 11.3 months to determine their use of ICI and reasons for discontinuing.

Results: There were no differences between the groups in discontinuation of ICI (overall 30%), in reasons for discontinuing ICI (24% did so because of the return of spontaneous erections) or in sexual functioning.

Conclusion: There was no positive contribution from additional sexological counselling but extensive information and support by the urologist seems to be sufficient, resulting in a high acceptance rate of ICI. The discontinuation rate (30%) is one of the lowest reported.