What does my husband need to do for an erection that occurred during dialysis that is quite painful? my husband is a 20 year diabetic and a 2 1/2 year dialysis patient.

It : It is not clear from your question if he still has a painful erection. If he has a persistent erection for four hours or more, he should go to the emergency room now.

Painful : Painful erection lasting more than 3-4 hours is called priapism and should be evaluated in er immediately.

Dr Ali agreed

You : You have not given much information to go on. Does your husband have any personal or family history of sickle cell anemia or sickle cell trait? Patients with these conditions can have painful episodes where blood clots in the small blood vessels of the body. This is more likely to occur if the patient is dehydrated. During dialysis, relative dehydration can occur, and thus can lead to a painful episode (often called sickle cell crisis). If this happens in the penis, it causes a painful erection called priapism, an erection that will not go down. The blood is trapped in the penis and cannot get out. This leads to high pressure in the penis and lack of new fresh blood circulating in the penis. This is painful and damaging to the penis and if left more than 6 hours, can lead to permanent e.D. Or impotence. I hope this helps.

Dr Kuitems agreed