Vibratory stimulation is a sperm retrieval technique used to get sperm from men with spinal cord injury. The higher the level of injury, the more likely it is to work. It is offered to patients with an injury of T6 and higher, because this procedure relies on the lack of inhibition that typically comes from the brain above the level of the person’s injury.

In this procedure, a powerful vibrator is used to stimulate the penis to produce an emission of sperm. Patients are monitored because autonomic dysreflexia (an increase in blood pressure that is associated with headaches, sweating, and flushing) may occur. Because of this, we often pretreat with an oral anti-hypertensive medication.



Electroejaculation is a procedure used to stimulate the emission of semen, involving an electric current delivered via a rectal probe. The goal is to obtain sperm to be used with an artificial reproductive technology in order to achieve a pregnancy. The emission does not always take place, and when it does, it does not always contain sperm.

The procedure begins with anesthesia only in those patients who have sensation in the genitals and rectum. All patients are monitored with regard to blood pressure and pulse, and those with a history of autonomic dysreflexia (an increase in blood pressure that is associated with headaches, sweating and flushing) are pretreated with an oral anti-hypertensive medication.

A prostate massage is used to empty the seminal vesicles and prostate of potentially sperm inhibiting fluids. A catheter is then used to empty the urinary bladder. This is then followed by a proctoscopy to insure that the anus and rectum are free of any abnormalities. This is performed after the electroejaculation as well to insure that there was no rectal injury from the procedure.

Most patients will have an emission, and will either have the seminal fluid come out, or go back into the bladder where we retrieve it with a catheter after the stimulation is complete. The forward (antegrade) and the backward (retrograde) specimens are then sent to the lab for evaluation and processing to determine the quantity and quality of the sperm that is obtained, and to potentially freeze the specimen(s).