Electroejaculation

Electroejaculation is a procedure that is performed when a medical or psychological condition prevents a male from being able to ejaculate. Such conditions include spinal cord injury, retroperitoneal surgery that severs the sympathetic nerves to the perineum and psychological conditions. During rectal probe ejaculation, the male is positioned on his side and a doctor inserts an electrical stimulation probe into the rectum. The doctor controls the amount of electrical stimulation delivered so that an ejaculation occurs. This can be done either in the office or in the operating room with anesthesia depending on the sensory status of the patient. Alternative methods of sperm retrieval are recommended when penile vibratory stimulation and rectal probe ejaculation are unsuccessful or unavailable. Sperm are made in the testicle and travel through the epididymis and vas deferens before reaching the outside of the body. Sperm can be obtained directly from the man's reproductive tract using minor surgery. The most common method is obtaining sperm from the testicle. This may be done in an open procedure. Alternatively, a closed procedure may be done in which no incision is made and a needle is passed through the scrotal skin directly into the testicle. The number of sperm obtained from any of these procedures is small and thus an advanced ART technique such as ICSI is required.