Zeitschrift für Wirbelsäule

Sexual Rehabilitation of Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Serdar Toksoz

Sexual and reproductive health is important for quality of life and has a significant influence on patient satisfaction. Spinal cord pathology occurs from trauma, deformity, and degenerative disease processes may be leads to damage sexual function and reproductive system. There are two control systems situated in the spinal cord associated with erection; parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. The parasympathetic center is in sacral segments S2–S4 and is responsible for reflexogenic erection and the sympathetic center is placed in T11–L2 segments of the spinal cord, which is responsible for psychogenic erection. Approximately 10-20% of erectile dysfunction (ED) is of neurological origin. The neurogenic ED is classified into 3 groups, as supraspinal, spinal (sacral and suprasacral) and peripheral.