Perineal floor efficiency in sexually potent and impotent men.

Given the knowledge that the ischiocavernous and bulbocavernous muscles are involved in the erection of the penis, we studied the voluntary contractile activity of the perineal floor muscles in sexually potent and impotent men to investigate whether or not a different muscular efficiency can be found in these subjects. The activity of perineal floor muscles was studied in 76 sexually potent men and in 97 impotent men matched by age. A further group of 217 older impotent men was also studied to verify the impact of age on the efficiency of perineal floor contraction. The average myoelectrical activity of 24 maximized contractions of the perineum was measured in microV by anal plug electromyography. Perineal floor muscle contraction was significantly higher (P = 0.0007) in potent than in impotent men matched by age. In addition, in older impotent men the less perineal floor efficiency was also negatively correlated to age (r = -0.21, P = 0.002). Our results clearly demonstrated that a reduction of contractile activity of perineal muscles may be related to erectile dysfunction in younger men and an additional influence of age on perineal floor efficiency can be present in older impotent men.