Treatment Educations – Intracorporeal Therapy
Intracorporeal therapy using Prostaglandin E1
Intracorporeal therapy is a treatment for erectile dysfunction. The therapy involves injecting medicine directly into the penis, which results in an erection. The medicine is injected directly into the two spongy rods (called the corpora cavernosa) that make up the penis at its base where sensation is minimal. The medicine is injected only before sexual activity, taking about 5-10 minutes to be active and lasting approximately 1-2 hours.
You will have received medicine (Prostaglandin E1) in a small bottle, and a supply of insulin syringes, needle 30 G and alcohol wipes.
Please follow the guidelines below when using this medicine.
- Keep the medicine refrigerated. If the medicine is exposed to higher temperatures, its effectiveness will diminish.
- Your initial dose is under specialist prescriptions after consultation. Wait 2 days before increasing the dosage. You may increase the dose by 5 units until a satisfactory result is reached. The maximum dose is 80 units.
- Wait for 2 days between injections. Do not inject more than 8 times a month.
- Do not be discouraged with a poor result the first few injections – the initial dose has been kept low to avoid a prolonged and painful erection, called priapism.
If your erection lasts longer than 1.5 hours, you may take 60 mg of Maxiphed orally. After taking Maxiphed, apply an ice pack to the area and wait more than 30 minutes. If the erection does not decrease, go immediately to the nearest hospital.
Take this information with you to the hospital. See the bottom of this page for emergency center staff instructions.
How to use the Medicine and Syringes (For emergency staff instructions.)
Listed below are reminders that will reinforce the instructions you have received from the doctor.
- Clean the medicine bottle with the alcohol wipe.
- Turn the bottle upside down and insert the syringe.
- Fill the syringe with medicine to the prescribed dosage and recap the needle.
- Change the needle on the syringe to needle 30 G
- Wipe the base of the penis with the alcohol wipe.
- Uncap the syringe, stretch the penis and insert the whole length of the needle at a 90-degree angle into the penis in one of the areas noted in Figure 2.
For the next injection, remember to inject the penis in a different location.
Written by: DR. NITI NAVANIMITKUL, M.D.
Penile Prosthesis Surgeon, Sexual Dysfunction Specialist, Water Vapor Therapy Specialist and Urologist
Instruction to Hospital Staff for Treating a Prolong Erection
Dilute 1 amp (10 mg) of Phenylephrine in 9 mL normal saline. The dilution is 1 mg per mL. Inject 0.3 to 0.5 mL of Phenylephrine intracavernosally (up to a maximum dose of 2 mL) every 10 minutes until the erection subsides.
If the erection does not subside, irrigate the corporeal bodies with 19-gaige butterfly needle. Irrigate both corporeal bodies with a mixture of Phenylephrine in normal saline as follow: 1 amp (10 mg) of Phenylephrine injected into 250 mL of saline. Use this solution to irrigate in and out of the corpus cavernova
