ASSESSING THE SEVERITY OF ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION: A SIMPLE OFFICE TEST--RIGIDOMETER

The most important part in patient coming with erectile dysfunction is a structured interview of the both partners.

The male partner faces  embarrassment  during the history taking and most of the times he confuses erection problems with retarded ejaculation, scanty ejaculate, premature ejaculation etc..

The male ego sometimes come in the way of revealing the severity of erectile problem.We make it a point to take interview of both the partners as we get to know the severity of the sexual problem  and at the same time we can understand the female sexual dysfunction which can co-exist many a times.

The erections are always over-estimated by the male partner( because of shyness) but the real severity we know by IIEF questionnaire and by the female partners.

The invasive test like USG doppler penis with papavarine injection and Rigiscan are not needed except in failure of psychotherapy and medical management.

The Pfizer has provided a good model to assess the severity of erectile dysfunction as an objective parameter.It is handed over to both the partners and we ask them how is the rigidity.By this we come to know the severity of dysfunction(by rigidometer) and help them as per the severity.