Background: Most of the patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) have fertility problems by an ejaculation and a poor fertility of the ejaculate. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of electroejaculation (EE) and combined use of EE and assisted reproductive techniques for the patients with SCI.
Patients and methods: Using a Seager Model, EE was attempted on 69 patients with SCI. Of the 69 patients 14 (20%) had cervical, 49 (71%) thoracic and 6 (9%) lumbar paraplegia. Mean patient age was 30 years (range 19 to 47 years) and the mean interval from spinal injury to the first EE was 9 years (range 1 to 38 years). Artificial insemination of husband (AIH), in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) were used to achieve a pregnancy.
Results: Antegrade ejaculation was obtained in 60 patients (86.9%). Patients with under-active bladder showed low induction rate (58.3%). Volume of ejaculate was ranged from 0.05 to 5.2 ml (average 1.0 ml) and sperm concentration was ranged from 0 to 546 x 10(6)/ml (average 40.3 x 10(6)/ml), but sperm motility was poor (range 0 to 70%, average 9.4%). Assisted reproductive techniques was attempted on 87 occasions (AIH 80, IVF 2, ICSI 5) on 15 couples. To date, there have been 4 pregnancies (AIH 2, ICSI 2) resulting in 3 healthy live births.
Conclusion: Combined use of EE and assisted reproductive techniques is excellent management for the patients with SCI who wish to father children.