From December 1991 to March 1992, 34 anejacuratory patients with spinal cord injury under went 90 of electric stimulations with Seager NRH model 12. The average patient age was 43.5 years with a range of 23 to 48 years. The level of cord injury
was
cervical in 7, thoracic in 6, lumbar in 11, lumbosacral in 7 and conus medullaris in 3. The average number of electric stimulation per a patient was 2.65 with a range of 1 to 4. The average voltage and amplitude per a stimulation were 17.72 volts
and
309.89 mAmp with ranges of 5 to 25 volts and 50 to 500 mAmp. The total and motile sperm number were evaluated microscopically and analyzed statistically by paired t-test according to the frequency of electroejaculation, level of cord injury and
voiding
pattern.
@ES The results were obtained as follows.
@EN 1. An overall success rate of electroejaculation was 85.3% among 34 patients and 82.2% among 90 electric stimulations.
2. The total and motile sperm number per a stimulation were not correlated the frequency of electric stimulation, level of cord injury and voiding pattern.
3. Complications occured in 10 cases; severe low abdominal pain in 5, hypertension in 2, sweating in 1, headache in 1 and neck stiffness in 1. All the complications subsided spontaneously within 5 to 10 minutes after transient interruption of the
electric stimulation.
In summary, rectal probe electroejaculation is an accepted safe means of procuring sperm from spinal cord injury patients with ejaculatory incompetence. However very poor sperm motility was found and it was not related with the frequency of
electrojaculation, level of cord injury and voiding pattern. Further investigation would be needed to conclude and to identify the reasons for impaired sperm motility.
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