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

CharacteristicSummary 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) 
CharacteristicSummary 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) 

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