Priapism: what to do?

Abstract

Priapism is a painful erection condition of penis or clitoris lasting more than four hours without sexual desire. Glans and corpus spongiosum do not participate in this period. Although the incidence is not common in males, it can also be seen in females very rarely. Priapism has three types. These are classifying as; Ischemic (low-flow) priapism, Non-ischemic (high-flow) priapism, Recurrent (stuttering) priapism. Priapism is an urgent urological disease which should be managed well since it may cause severe penile function disorder. Our aim in this article is presenting appropriate management of priapism in the light of current literature. We hope that the studies to be done in the future would be helpful to reveal priapism molecular mechanisms and develop our ability of care for the patients in this condition.