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Electroejaculation With a Foley Catheter in the Bladder

From the Male Fertility Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bikur Cholim Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.

Correspondence to: Dr Yedidya Hovav, Male Fertility Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bikur Cholim Hospital, Strauss 5, Jerusalem 91004, Israel (e-mail: spl113{at}netvision.net.il).

Electroejaculation has been successfully used for sperm procurement in anejaculatory men desiring fertility. The electroejaculation procedure begins with complete catheterization of the bladder and instillation of an insemination medium into the bladder as a buffer. This step can minimize possible detrimental effects of urine on any retrograde ejaculate. The catheter is then removed. After the collection of the antegrade ejaculate, the bladder is catheterized again. Our objective was to evaluate the possibility of performing electroejaculation while the Foley catheter is instilled in the bladder. Eleven men with anejaculation underwent 22 procedures of rectal probe electroejaculation. Each patient underwent electroejaculation twice, once without the catheter instilled in the bladder (standard method) and once with it. The 2 methods, with and without the catheter, showed no significant differences in volume, concentration, motility, count, and total motility of the antegrade ejaculate. In retrograde ejaculate, there were no significant differences in the count, motility, and total motility. In addition, there was no difference in the total count and the total motility of both fractions in the 2 methods. In this study, we show that ejaculation can be achieved while the Foley catheter is instilled in the urethra without any detrimental effect on the sperm. Therefore, we recommend not removing the Foley catheter while performing electroejaculation.

     Key words: Electroejaculation, antegrade ejaculate, retrograde ejaculate