Percutaneous lumbar sympathectomy in the treatment of erectile dysfunction secondary to cavernous adrenergic hypertone: initial results of an original technique.

Corporeal smooth muscle tone is regulated by a delicate balance between contraction and erectile smooth muscle. An abnormal balance in basal conditions, due to an augmented contraction of erectile smooth muscle, defined "dysfunctional antagonism", may be responsible of a particular condition of erectile dysfunction (ED), secondary to cavernous adrenergic hypertone (CAY). In order to investigate the possibility to treat CAY with a definitive inhibition of adrenergic innervation to corpora cavernosa, we evaluated the results of an original technique of percutaneous lumbar sympathectomy (PLS) in a group of patients with clinical signs and symptoms of CAY In our study, 14 patients were selected and treated with PLS. Pre-treatment evaluation was designed to identify patients with ED caused by CAY, eligible for surgical treatment, and consisted of medical history, the self administered International Index of Erectile Function and Doppler sonography evaluation of cavernous arteries. Were considered eligible to the surgical treatment the patients with normal PSV values and abnormal EDV values after first injection of alprostadil, but reduced to zero after redosing with alprostadil and phentolamine. All these patients were treated with percutaneous bilateral lumbar ganglionic block with mepivacaine and, at a successive time, phenol 4% and evaluated after I and 4 months. Each evaluation consisted of a self-administered IIEF questionnaire, physical examination and Doppler sonography evaluation. Among the 14 patients selected and treated with temporary block with mepivacaine, 3 reported significant adverse events, consisting of loss of ejaculation (2 patients) and severe lumbar pain (1 patient). In all the other patients treated, only mild to moderate lumbar pain was reported. 10 patients out of the 14 treated with mepivacaine accepted to undergo the successive step of ganglionic block with phenol. Nine patients reported improved erections at both visits, as assessed by the GEQ. Moreover, the analysis of responses to IIEF questions 2-3 showed a highly significant improvement in erectile function compared to scores at baseline. Doppler sonography showed normal flow parameters at both visits in 8 patients. No significant adverse events were recorded after the procedures, except for mild to moderate lumbar pain. Clinical data collected in this study seem to confirm chemical sympathesctomy as a reliable, effective and safe therapeutic option in ED secondary to CAY.