Table 3.
Characteristics of priapism in a prospective cohort of 71 men with sickle cell anemia who completed a priapism diary for three months, with a total of 298 priapism episodes
| Characteristic | Summary statistics |
|---|---|
| Rate per year of priapism events, mean (95% CI) | 16.8 (14.9-18.8) |
| Duration of priapism event (min), median (IQR); n = 293 | 90.0 (40.5-135.0) |
| Type of priapism incident, n (%); n = 293 | |
| Minor | 264 (90.1) |
| Major | 29 (9.9) |
| Had at least 1 major priapism event, n (%) | 18 (25.4) |
| Priapism triggers,∗ n (%) | |
| Sleep | 234 (78.5) |
| Sexual urge | 37 (12.4) |
| Dehydration | 11 (3.7) |
| Fever | 10 (3.4) |
| Sexual intercourse | 1 (0.3) |
| Don't know | 5 (1.7) |
| Priapism pain on a scale from 1 (mild) to 10 (excruciating/worst possible), median (IQR) | 6.0 (5.0-8.0) |
| Location of priapism pain, n (%); n = 295 | |
| All over the penis | 96 (32.5) |
| Penis shaft | 126 (42.7) |
| Whole perineum | 40 (13.6) |
| Glans penis | 33 (11.2) |
| Nature of priapism pain, n (%) | |
| Piercing | 58 (19.5) |
| Throbbing | 7 (2.3) |
| Burning | 96 (32.2) |
| Crushing | 28 (9.4) |
| Stabbing | 20 (6.7) |
| Cannot explain | 89 (29.9) |
| Did any coping mechanisms relieve priapism event at home, n (%); n = 296 | 253 (85.5) |
| Coping mechanisms that relieved priapism event at home,∗n (%); n = 250 | |
| Exercise | 146 (65.6) |
| Cold shower | 22 (8.8) |
| Hot shower | 9 (3.6) |
| Ice pack | 15 (6.0) |
| Analgesics | 15 (6.0) |
| Other | 25 (10.0) |
| Vaso-occlusive pain associated with priapism event, n (%); n = 297 | 30 (10.1) |
| If associated, when did the vaso-occlusive pain occur, n (%); n = 30 | |
| Just before priapism | 12 (40.0) |
| Along with priapism | 7 (23.3) |
| Immediately after priapism | 11 (36.7) |
| Compared with your usual sickle cell pain, how bad was this priapism pain. n (%); n = 29 | |
| Milder | 5 (17.2) |
| Same severity | 7 (24.1) |
| Worse | 11 (37.9) |
| Cannot say | 6 (20.7) |
∗
More than 1 response allowed.