(075) Practice Patterns of Sexual Medicine Experts Towards Postorgasmic Illness Syndrome

Abstract

Abstract Introduction POIS is a rare, but debilitating cluster of symptoms, occurring after ejaculation with unknown mechanism. Unfortunately, limited information is available on POIS diagnosis, treatment, and disease management Objective To investigate the practice patterns of sexual medicine experts towards POIS Methods Worldwide sexual medicine experts were invited to participate anonymously in an online, open survey using SurveyMonkey. Results 211 sexual medicine experts filled the survey. The mean age of the participants was 45.4 years. The majority of the participants were urologists (83.9%). Most of the participants (53.5%) considered POIS to be an important sexual dysfunction that should be treated. Most participants stated that the available information about POIS was inadequate for both patients and physicians (65.9% and 66.3%, respectively). 47.9% of the participants stated psychological disorder, 46.4% stated bio-psycho-social reasons, 41.2% stated a transient deregulation of the autonomic nervous system, and 39.8% stated autoimmune or allergic type reaction for the responsibility for the pathophysiology of POIS. 56.4% of the participants stated that they would refer the patient for psychotherapy/sexual therapy to a sexologist, 41.7% would prefer antihistamine drugs to manage symptoms, and 38.4% would prefer Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) drugs for treatment of POIS. Conclusions This survey study among sexual medicine experts from different parts of the world has developed representative estimates of knowledge, attitudes and practice patterns regarding POIS worldwide. Furthermore, sexual medicine experts stated that there is not adequate information available about POIS for physicians and patients. Disclosure No.