Quantitative Analysis of Outflow Pathway of Corpora Cavernosa by Pressure Flow Technique

Abstract

Using a pressure flow technique, quantitative analysis of the physiological characteristics of the outflow pathway of the corpus cavernosum was carried out in 19 male dogs weighing 7.5 to 23.0 kg. Pressure flow curves were made on dogs whose pelvic nerve was stimulated electrically and on dogs left unstimulated. When a cyclical change in saline perfusion rate was applied without nerve stimulation, the variable of the intracorporeal pressure showed a large hysteretic loop, indicating that the resistance of the outflow canals to flow was altered by the distension of the sinusoidal space. In dogs whose pelvic nerve was stimulated, the pressure flow curves shifted to the left side in comparison with the outward phase of the pressure flow curve of animals without pelvic nerve stimulation, and this curve piled on the returning phase. No hysteretic relation was observed between the outward and returning phase of the pressure flow curve with pelvic nerve stimulation, but in the detailed analysis, in which the % flow rate was used instead of actual flow rate of saline perfusion, a small hysteretic loop based on the difference of the elasticity of the outlet canals was found. The distension of the corpora cavernosa and the pelvic nerve electrostimulation probably act as the triggers of the same occlusive mechanism in the outflow pathway. The percentage decrease in the blood flow in the outflow canal of the corpus cavernosum induced by the distension of the sinusoidal space or by the pelvic nerve electrostimulation was 69.6 ± 14.4% (mean ± SD).