Priapism – Emergency Treatment

Transcript

Typically, Procedures that might be necessary to treat the emergency type of priapism low flow or ischemic priapism are several. The first is the doctor might perform what’s called an arterial blood gas. A small sample of blood is taken from the penis in the erection chamber to determine the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels to confirm the type of Priapism that suspected. The second thing is a procedure called aspiration and irrigation. With some local anesthetic, a needle is gently placed into the erection chamber so that the blood can be removed from the penis. And saline can be flushed in to try and wash out the poorly oxygenated blood. And the third component is an injection of a small dose of a medication. The so-called antidote, which reverses the erection. It’s mixed with sterile saline, and it allows, uh, the erection chambers to release blood back into the bloodstream to restore normal blood flow. Now, when those three techniques don’t work, sometimes the doctor needs to perform a surgical procedure called a shunt procedure. There’s various versions of a shunt, but they all aim to allow the blood to vent or escape from the penis. So it’s no longer trapped in the erection chambers.