Pathological inability to ejaculate in males
Anejaculation is the pathological inability to ejaculate despite an erection[ 1] in males , with (orgasmic ) or without (anorgasmic ) orgasm.
Causes
The following table shows the frequency of ability to ejaculate by type of spinal cord injury and stimulation method.[ 2]
Masturbation or coitus
Penile vibratory stimulation
AchE inhibitor
Complete spinal cord injury
12%
47%
55%
Incomplete spinal cord injury
33%
53%
78%
Complete lesion of the sympathetic centres (T12 to L2)
None
5%
Complete lesion of the parasympathetic and somatic centres (S2 – S4)
None
31%
Complete lesion of all spinal ejaculation centres (T12 to S5)
None
0%
Complete lesion strictly above Onuf's nucleus (S2 – S4)
98%
98%
Complete lesion of the S2 – S4 segments
none
none
It can depend on one or more of several causes , including:
Anejaculation, especially the orgasmic variant, is usually indistinguishable from retrograde ejaculation . However, a negative urinalysis measuring no abnormal presence of spermatozoa in the urine will eliminate a retrograde ejaculation diagnosis.
Thus, if the affected person has the sensations and involuntary muscle-contractions of an orgasm but no or very low-volume semen , ejaculatory duct obstruction is another possible underlying pathology of anejaculation.[citation needed ]
Management
Anejaculation in spinal cord injury
The first-line method for sperm retrieval in men with spinal cord injury is penile vibratory stimulation (PVS).[ 2] The penile vibratory stimulator is a plier-like device that is placed around the glans penis to stimulate it by vibration. In case of failure with PVS, spermatozoa are sometimes collected by electroejaculation , or surgically by percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA) or testicular sperm extraction (TESE).[ 2]
Notes
^ a b Meng, Xianghu; Fan, Longchang; Wang, Tao; Wang, Shaogang; Wang, Zengjun; Liu, Jihong (March 2018). "Electroejaculation combined with assisted reproductive technology in psychogenic anejaculation patients refractory to penile vibratory stimulation" . Translational Andrology and Urology . 7 (S1): S17 – S22 . doi :10.21037/tau.2018.01.15 . PMC 5881218 . PMID 29644166 .
^ a b c Chehensse, C.; Bahrami, S.; Denys, P.; Clément, P.; Bernabé, J.; Giuliano, F. (2013). "The spinal control of ejaculation revisited: A systematic review and meta-analysis of anejaculation in spinal cord injured patients" . Human Reproduction Update . 19 (5): 507– 526. doi :10.1093/humupd/dmt029 . PMID 23820516 .
^ [1] Archived 2008-02-08 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian) and [2] Archived 2014-01-31 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)