Sexual experience and plasma testosterone levels in male veterans after spinal cord injury.

Fifty men with spinal cord injuries (SCI) were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning their sexuality before and after injury. Medical examination confirmed the location and completeness of the injury and extracted information about genitourologic status. The respondents rated sexuality highly as a concern in living, and a wide variety of sexual techniques were reported. A marked decrease in sexual activity, satisfaction, and feelings of sexual adequacy was reported after injury, as compared to retrospective "before injury" responses, lack of opportunity being reported as causative by 66% of the subjects and insufficient personal satisfaction by 59%. Seventy-five percent of the subjects experienced sexual arousal from genital stimulation, and several methods of eliciting erection were cited. Orgasm was described by a variety of terms. Significant differences were found between quadriplegic and paraplegic patients in answers to several items, though there was generally no difference between cervical and thoracic groups, which were more specifically broken down with respect to motor or sensory/complete or incomplete lesions. Plasma testosterone levels were found to fall well within the normal adult male range, as were levels of free testosterone and serum sex binding protein. The resulting information demonstrated more sexual concern among men with SCI than the literature previously indicated.