Highlights
- •Effective, safe therapies are shown to promote orgasm in women with spinal cord injury (SCI) or multiple sclerosis (MS).
- •Clitoral vacuum suction improved overall sexual function with sustained efficacy.
- •Vibratory stimulation improved orgasmic function during active treatment.
- •Clinicians should make these treatments available to women with MS or SCI.
- •Research should examine benefits of orgasm on spasticity and quality of life.
Abstract
Objective
To examine the safety and efficacy of using a clitoral vacuum suction device (CVSD)
versus vibratory stimulation (V) to treat orgasmic dysfunction in women with multiple
sclerosis (MS) or spinal cord injury (SCI).
Design
Randomized clinical trial.
Setting
Two academic medical centers.
Participants
Women (N=31) including 20 with MS and 11 with SCI.
Intervention
A 12-week trial of the use of a CVSD versus V.
Main Outcome Measures
Female Sexual Function Inventory (FSFI) and Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS).
Results
Twenty-three women (18 MS, 5 SCI) completed the study including 13 of 16 randomized
to CVSD and 10 of 15 randomized to V. There was a statistically significant increase
in total FSFI score (P=.011), desire (P=.009), arousal (P=.009), lubrication (P=.008), orgasm (P=.012), and satisfaction (P=.049), and a significant decrease in distress as measured by FSDS (P=.020) in subjects using the CVSD. In subjects who used V, there was a statistically
significant increase in the orgasm subscale of the FSFI (P=.028). Subjects using the CVSD maintained improvements 4 weeks after treatment.
Conclusions
CVSD is safe and overall efficacious to treat female neurogenic sexual dysfunction
related to MS and SCI. V is also safe and efficacious for female neurogenic orgasmic
dysfunction; however, results were limited to the active treatment period. Because
of ease of access and cost, clinicians can consider use of V for women with MS or
SCI with orgasmic dysfunction. CVSD is recommended for women with multiple sexual
dysfunctions or for whom V is ineffective.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CVSD (clitoral vacuum suction device), FOD (female orgasmic dysfunction), FSDS (Female Sexual Distress Scale), FSFI (Female Sexual Function Inventory), MS (multiple sclerosis), MSISQ-19 (Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire-19), SCI (spinal cord injury), SDS (sexual dysfunction score), V (vibratory stimulation)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 09, 2017
Footnotes
Supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant no. HD R0130149).
Clinical Trial Registration No.: NCT00142714.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
