Injections

In intracavernosal injection therapy, more commonly called penile self-injection, a man injects a small amount of medicine into the side of his penis using a tiny needle and syringe. The medicine, usually prostaglandin E1, papaverine, phentolamine, or combinations of these drugs, relaxes the blood vessels, allowing blood to flow into the penis. Injection therapy is effective in treating a wide variety of erection problems caused by blood vessel, nerve, and psychological conditions. The most common adverse side effects are pain and penile scarring (fibrosis). Patients with cerebral vascular disease or severe cardiovascular disease might not be able to tolerate the dizziness and high blood pressure occasionally encountered with injection therapy. Painful erections that last longer than two to three hours can usually be controlled by proper dosing and by following treatment guidelines.

Choose another disease or condition... Allergic Rhinitis Allergies, Food Allergy & Asthma Center Alzheimer's Disease Anxiety Aortic Aneurysms Arrhythmia Arthritis, Osteo- (OA) Arthritis, Rheumatoid (RA) Asthma Atopic Dermatitis Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Back Pain Brain Tumor Bones, Joints & Muscles Center Breast Cancer Brain & Behavior Center Brain Tumor Cancer Center    Brain Tumor    Breast Cancer    Cancer Prevention    Clinical Trials    Colorectal Cancer    Endometrial Cancer    Living With and Beyond Cancer    Lung Cancer    Prostate Cancer    Skin Cancer Cardiomyopathy Cataracts Cholesterol Control Clinical Trials Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Colorectal Cancer Congenital Heart Disease Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) Crohn's Disease Depression Diabetes Center Diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Digestive Disorders Center Eczema Endometrial Cancer Erectile Dysfunction (ED) Eye & Vision Center Fibromyalgia Food Allergies Gallstone Disease Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) GERD Glaucoma Hay Fever Headache Heart Center Hepatitis A Hepatitis B Hepatitis C High Blood Pressure Hypertension Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) Impotence Insomnia Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Living With and Beyond Cancer Losing Weight Lung Cancer Macular Degeneration Memory Loss Osteoarthritis (OA) Osteoporosis Parkinson's Disease Peptic Ulcer Prediabetes Prostate Cancer Respiratory Disorders Center Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Sexual & Reproductive Health Center Sinusitis Skin Cancer Sleep Apnea Sleep Center Stroke Type 1 Diabetes Type 2 Diabetes Ulcerative Colitis (UC) Weight Control More about Sexual and Reproductive Health Get more online resources about ED Erectile Dysfunction-Related Clinical Trials Information Email this page Print this section

The drug alprostadil, which relaxes and expands the blood vessels (allowing more blood to flow into the penis), comes in several mixtures that can be injected into the base or the side of the penis with a fine needle. An erection usually occurs within 20 minutes.

Be sure that you know which product you are using and that you fully understand the proper way to mix the injection. Do not use alprostadil more often than your doctor has ordered or in larger amount; misuse could cause permanent damage to the penis.

After an injection is mixed, alprostadil must be used immediately. Throw away any unused mixture in the syringe; it cannot be stored for later injection. Do not reuse your needles.

Contact your doctor if any of the following symptoms become worse or do not go away: bleeding at the site of injection, pain at the site of injection, painful erection, bruising or clotted blood in the area of the injection (usually caused by an incorrect injection). Also, report curving of the penis with pain during an erection, an erection that lasts four to six hours with pain, swelling of or pain in the testes, dizziness, faintness, pelvic pain, or flulike symptoms.

Men who do not have erectile dysfunction should not use alprostadil as a sexual aid. If this medicine is not used properly, permanent damage to the penis and loss of the ability to have erections could result.