Brief Report IVeatment of Erectile Dysfunction Secondary to Spinal Cord Injury: Sexual and Psychosocial Impact on Couples J. Scott Richards, L. Keith Lloyd, Joseph W. James, and Jane Brown University of Alabama at Birmingham ABSTRACT Seventeen males with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their partners, screened for suitability for pharmacological intervention for erectile dysfunc- tion, were assessed pre- and post-intervention on measures of marital, social, personality, and sexual functioning. Intervention did not impact general mea- sures of life satisfaction or personality functioning. A positive impact on a general measure of marital satisfaction and on several measures of sexual functioning was noted, generally more so for SCI males than their partners. Implications for future studies and sexual counseling are discussed. In the last several years, intracavernous injection of vasoactive drugs has emerged as a promising treatment option for erectile dysfunction. The use of a mixture of Papaverine (a smooth muscle relaxant) and Phentolamine (an alpha- adrenergic blocking agent) has proven to be particularly effective, producing erections of 1 to 4 hours duration in males with erectile dysfunction secondary to a variety of etiologies (Zorgnotti & Lefleur, 1985; Brindley, 1986; Sidi, Reddy, & Chen, 1988; Bodner, Lindan, Lettler, Kursh, & Resnick, 1987; Lloyd & Richards, 1987). Studies of this procedure to date have primarily been limited to evaluations of the physiological efficacy of this treatment. At present, there is a paucity of work examining the impact of Papaverine/Phentolamine treatment on the sexual and psychosocial functioning of the patient and partner. REHABILITATION PSYCHOLOGY Vol. 37, No. 3,1992 © 1992 by the Division of Rehabilitation Psychology of the American Psychological Association Published by Springer Publishing Company, Inc., 536 Broadway, New Yoric, NY 10012 205 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.