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Summary: When therapeutic practices concerning erectile disorders are analysed, it is clear that Anglo-Saxon countries tend to adopt a more pragmatic approach, whereas in Latin countries, the trend is for sex- therapy, with the urologists and the psychiatrists (or psychotherapists) working together. It is therefore important not to dissociate the physical and the mental.

The chemically-induced erection cannot be considered a substitute for a natural erection. The intracavernous injection (ICI) is often a ³crutch². If the patient does not receive psychological assistance, serious difficulties may persist in his sex life. It is not possible to envisage discontinuing the ICI as the damage will have only been treated on the symptom level.

The urologist-psychiatrist consensus makes it much easier to progressively phase out the injections, as the fear of failure will have disappeared little by little. There is a real synergy effect between ICI and sex-therapy.