Discussion
To our knowledge, this is the youngest medication-induced erection case ever reported. At present, psychotropic medications, especially risperidone, are commonly used in the treatment of behavioral disorders in children diagnosed with vastly diverse conditions10-12. However, this report showed that it may be essential to monitor signs and symptoms related to genital systems when this group of medications are used. Although this condition is rare in children6, it has a negative impact in the long term, especially regarding sexual dysfunction in the future7.
There have been a number of case reports that have demonstrated a relationship between psychotropic medications and abnormal erections or priapism14-18. However, dtails on their …show more content…
An intensive review of these five cases revealed that the severity of the penile erection symptoms in children was less than those observed in adults and adolescents7-9,13-17. All of the case reports involving adults and adolescents older than 12 years old reported similar presentations that included priapism (prolonged penile erection more than 4 hours without sexual stimuli)6,13-18. In contrast, this report and the only previous case report of a child younger than 12 years old found that all of the erection durations were less than 20 minutes, but frequently recurrent7. This difference in symptoms experienced by children may result from a lower sensitivity to the alpha-1 adrenergic antagonistic effect of the medication by the receptors in the corpora carvernosa3-4. Furthermore, the milder symptoms may lead to misdiagnosis by physicians because they are similar to those related to penis play, which is common among children with autism-spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities. The delayed diagnosis and, consequently, treatment of this condition can cause problems in the
To our knowledge, this is the youngest medication-induced erection case ever reported. At present, psychotropic medications, especially risperidone, are commonly used in the treatment of behavioral disorders in children diagnosed with vastly diverse conditions10-12. However, this report showed that it may be essential to monitor signs and symptoms related to genital systems when this group of medications are used. Although this condition is rare in children6, it has a negative impact in the long term, especially regarding sexual dysfunction in the future7.
There have been a number of case reports that have demonstrated a relationship between psychotropic medications and abnormal erections or priapism14-18. However, dtails on their …show more content…
An intensive review of these five cases revealed that the severity of the penile erection symptoms in children was less than those observed in adults and adolescents7-9,13-17. All of the case reports involving adults and adolescents older than 12 years old reported similar presentations that included priapism (prolonged penile erection more than 4 hours without sexual stimuli)6,13-18. In contrast, this report and the only previous case report of a child younger than 12 years old found that all of the erection durations were less than 20 minutes, but frequently recurrent7. This difference in symptoms experienced by children may result from a lower sensitivity to the alpha-1 adrenergic antagonistic effect of the medication by the receptors in the corpora carvernosa3-4. Furthermore, the milder symptoms may lead to misdiagnosis by physicians because they are similar to those related to penis play, which is common among children with autism-spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities. The delayed diagnosis and, consequently, treatment of this condition can cause problems in the