Premature ejaculation. 1. Definition and etiology

Arch Ital Urol Androl. 2004 Dec;76(4):181-7.

Abstract

There is no general agreement on the definition of premature ejaculation, therefore scientific studies often reach discordant results depending on whether they assess the increase in ejaculatory latency or the couple's sexual satisfaction. Etiological theories can be divided into psycho-sexual (anxiety-related, behavioral) and biological (pelvic floor alteration, hypersensitivity of the glans penis, accelerated conduction and cortical amplification of the genital stimuli), both sharing the neurobiological assumption of serotonergic mediation. Premature ejaculation can be iatrogenic (amphetamine, cocaine, dopaminergic drugs) or secondary to urological diseases (prostatovesiculitis, frenulum breve) or to neurological diseases (multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathies, medullary expansion processes).

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Ejaculation*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / etiology*
  • Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / physiopathology
  • Terminology as Topic
  • Time Factors