ABSTRACT
Since arterial blood flow into the corpora cavernosa initiates and maintains penile erection, important relationships exist between sexual function and vascular surgery. Leriche’s 1923 paper[1] listed impotence as the first symptom in men with aortoiliac occlusion. Highly successful operations were developed to correct aortoiliac occlusive and aneurysmal disease; however, these procedures themselves often provoked postoperative impotence and other sexual disabilities.[2,3] Sexual dysfunction after aortoiliac reconstruction is caused by failure to perfuse the internal iliac arteries or by injury to the genital autonomic nerves. In the last decade, techniques of aortic reconstruction have evolved to minimize these complications.[4-8] In some men, these reconstructive methods also offer the prospect of restored erectile function.
