Pelvic-Floor Muscle Rehabilitation in Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation

Background. In men, involuntary or voluntary ischiocavernosus muscle contrac-tions after erection lead to intracavernous blood pressures far higher than the systolic pressure, which builds and maintains penile rigidity. Thus, erectile dysfunction may be partly due to ischiocavernosus muscle atrophy and may be treated by rehabilita-tion interventions. Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine whether pelvic-floor muscle strengthening interventions could be associated with increases in intracav-ernous pressure that would increase penile rigidity. Design. An observational study was conducted. Methods. One hundred twenty-two men with isolated erectile dysfunction and 108 men with isolated premature ejaculation participated (no neuromuscular dis-eases or previous perineal rehabilitation). Thirty-minute sessions of voluntary con-tractions coupled with electrical stimulation were designed to increase ischiocaver-nosus muscle strength (monitored through intracavernous pressure increase). A linear mixed-effects model per group analyzed separately, then jointly, the maximu