Sexual and reproductive health of patients with spinal cord injuries - Orientation to female fertility and pregnancy
Keywords:
spinal cord injury, female fertility, pregnancy outcomes, sexual and reproductive health, women with disabilitie
Abstract
This exploratory review focus on the sexual and reproductive health of female spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. This investigation seeks to determine whether or not women with spinal cord impairments can become pregnant. Women with SCI are unable to procreate, contrary to the alternative theory. We searched PubMed and Scopus for relevant articles published between 2003 and 2023. Consideration was given to studies, with an emphasis on the sexual and reproductive health, including reproduction, of women with SCI. Animal studies, studies published in languages other than English, male-focused research, studies on neurological diseases other than SCI, and non-relative studies were all disqualified. The findings of this review shed light on the likelihood of conception among individuals with SCI, while the findings of individual studies contribute to our understanding of female fertility and pregnancy outcomes in this population.
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References
Courtois F, Alexander M, McLain ABJ. Women’s Sexual Health and Reproductive Function After SCI. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil. 2017; 23:20-30.
Lysberg K, Severinsson E. Spinal cord injured women’s views of sexuality: A Norwegian survey. Rehabil Nurs 2003; 28:23-26
Biering-Sørensen I, Hansen RB, Biering-Sørensen F. Sexual function in a traumatic spinal cord injured population 10-45 years after injury. J Rehabil Med. 2012; 44:926-31.
Ferreiro-Velasco ME, Barca-Buyo A, de la Barrera SS et al. Sexual issues in a sample of women with spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2005; 43:51-55.
Sipski ML, Rosen RC, Alexander CJ et al. Sexual responsiveness in women with spinal cord injuries: differential effect of anxiety-eliciting stimulation. Arch Sex Behav 2004; 33:295-302.
Komisaruk BR, Whipple B, Crawford A et al. Brain activation during vaginocervical self-stimulation and orgasm in women with complete spinal cord injury: FMRI evidence of mediation by the vagus nerves. Brain Res 2004; 1024:77-88.
Alexander MS, Rosen RC, Steinberg S et al. Sildenafil in women with sexual arousal disorder following spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2011; 49:273-279.
Stoffel JT, Van der Aa F, Wittmann D et al. Fertility and sexuality in the spinal cord injury patient. World J Urol. 2018; 36:1577-1585.
Iezzoni LI, Chen Y, Jackson McLain AB. Current pregnancy among women with spinal cord injury: findings from the US national spinal cord injury database. Spinal Cord: 2015; 53:821- 826.
Kathiresan ASQ, Ibrahim E, Aballa TC et al. Pregnancy outcomes by intravaginal and intrauterine insemination in 82 couples with male factor infertility due to spinal cord injuries. Fertility and Sterility 2011; 96:328-331.
Anderson D, Borisoff JF, Johnson RD et al. Spinal cord injury influences psychogenic as well as physical components of female sexual ability. Spinal Cord 2007; 349-359.
Pavese C, Kessler TM. Prediction of Lower Urinary Tract, Sexual, and Bowel Function, and Autonomic Dysreflexia after Spinal Cord Injury. Biomedicines. 2023; 11:1644.
Ahuja CS, Wilson JR, Nori S et al. Traumatic spinal cord injury. Nat Rev Dis Prim. 2017; 3:17018.
Salomon J, Schnitzler A, Ville Y et al Prevention of urinary tract infection in six spinal cord-injured pregnant women who gave birth to seven children under a weekly oral cyclic antibiotic program. Int J Infect Dis. 2009; 13:399-402.
Hentzen C, Musco S, Amarenco G et al. Approach and management to patients with neurological disorders reporting sexual dysfunction. Lancet Neurol. 2022; 21:551-562.
Kreuter M, Taft C, Siösteen A et al. Women’s sexual functioning and sex life after spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord. 2011; 49:154-60.
Deforge D, Blackmer J, Moher D et al. Sexuality and reproductive health following spinal cord injury. Evid Rep Technol Assess (Summ) 2004; 109:1-8.
Maasoumi R, Zarei F, Merghati-Khoei E et al. Development of a Sexual Needs Rehabilitation Framework in Women Post-Spinal Cord Injury: A Study From Iran. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2018; 99:548-554.
Merghati-Khoei E, Emami-Razavi SH, Bakhtiyari M et al. Spinal cord injury and women’s sexual life: case–control study. Spinal Cord 2017; 55:269-273.
Barrett OEC, Mattacola E, Finlay KA. “You feel a bit unsexy sometimes”: The psychosocial impact of a spinal cord injury on sexual function and sexual satisfaction. Spinal Cord. 2023; 61:51-56.
Otero-Villaverde S, Ferreiro-Velasco ME, Montoto-Marqués A et al. Sexual satisfaction in women with spinal cord injuries. Spinal Cord 2015; 53:557-560.
Andrei Krassioukov, Stacy Elliott. Neural Control and Physiology of Sexual Function: Effect of Spinal Cord Injury. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil 2017; 23: 1–10.
Hess MJ, Hough S. Impact of spinal cord injury on sexuality: broad-based clinical practice intervention and practical application. J Spinal Cord Med. 2012; 35:211-218.
Parker, M.G., Yau, M.K. Sexuality, Identity and Women with Spinal Cord Injury. Sex Disabil 2012; 30:15–27.
Sipski ML, Arenas A. Female sexual function after spinal cord injury. Prog Brain Res 2006; 152:441-447.
Stacy Elliott, Gaya Jeyathevan, Shea Hocaloski et al. Conception and development of Sexual Health indicators to advance the quality of spinal cord injury rehabilitation: SCI-High Project, J Spinal Cord Med. 2019; 42:68-84
Fritz HA, Dillaway H, Lysack C. “Don’t think paralysis takes away your womanhood”: Sexual intimacy after spinal cord injury. 2015; 69:1-10.
Lombardi G, Del Popolo G, Macchiarella A et al. Sexual rehabilitation in women with spinal cord injury: a critical review of the literature. Spinal Cord 2010; 48:842- 849.
Zizzo J, Gater DR, Hough S et al. Sexuality, Intimacy, and Reproductive Health after Spinal Cord Injury. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2022; 12:1985.
Marcalee Alexander, Frédérique Courtois, Stacy Elliott et al. Improving Sexual Satisfaction in Persons with Spinal Cord Injuries: Collective Wisdom. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil 2017; 23: 57–70.
Thrussell H, Coggrave M, Graham A et al. Women’s experiences of sexuality after spinal cord injury: a UK perspective. Spinal Cord 2018; 56:1084–1094
Khalili M, Berlin M, Pettersson K et al. Pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal outcomes among women with spinal cord injury in Sweden 1997–2015: A population-based cohort study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2022; 101: 1282-1290.
Van den Borne K, Brands I, Spijkerman D. et al. Prevalence of parenthood in wheelchair-dependent persons with long-term spinal cord injury in the Netherlands. Spinal Cord 2018; 56:607–613
Deforge D, Blackmer J, Garritty C et al. Fertility following spinal cord injury: A systematic review. Spinal Cord 2005; 43:693-703.
Leduc BE. Treatment of infertility in 31 men with spinal cord injury. Can J Urol. 2012; 19:6432-6.
Sonksen J, Fode M, Lochner-Ernst D et al. Vibratory ejaculation in 140 spinal cord injured men and home insemination of their partners. Spinal Cord 2012;50:63-66.
Kathiresan AS, Ibrahim E, Aballa TC et al. Comparison of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes in male factor infertility patients with and without spinal cord injuries. Fertil Steril. 2011; 96:562-566.
Bertschy S, Schmidt M, Fiebag K. et al. Guideline for the management of pre-, intra-, and postpartum care of women with a spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2020; 58: 449–458
Smeltzer, Suzanne & Wetzel-Effinger, Lisa. Pregnancy in Women with Spinal Cord Injury. Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation 2009:15:29-42.
Sterling L, Keunen J, Wigdor E et al. Pregnancy outcomes in women with spinal cord lesions. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2013; 35:39-43.
Le Liepvre H, Dinh A, Idiard-Chamois B. et al. Pregnancy in spinal cord-injured women, a cohort study of 37 pregnancies in 25 women. Spinal Cord 2017; 55:167–171
Ghidini A, Healey A, Antreany M. and Simonson M.R. Pregnancy and women with spinal cord injuries. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 2008; 87: 1006-1010
Pannek J., Bertschy S. Mission impossible? Urological management of patients with spinal cord injury during pregnancy: a systematic review. Spinal Cord 2011; 49: 1028-1032.
Robertson K, Ashworth F. Spinal cord injury and pregnancy. Obstet Med. 2022; 15:99-103.
Cabahug, P.G. Managing Spasticity in a Pregnant Woman with Spinal Cord Injury: a Review. Curr Phys Med Rehabil, 2018; 6:245–256.
Robertson K, Dawood R, Ashworth F. Vaginal delivery is safely achieved in pregnancies complicated by spinal cord injury: a retrospective 25-year observational study of pregnancy outcomes in a national spinal injuries centre. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2020 29; 20:56.
Pebdani RN, Johnson KL, Amtmann D. Personal experiences of pregnancy and fertility in individuals with spinal cord injury. Sexuality and Disability 2014; 32:65-74.
Lysberg K, Severinsson E. Spinal cord injured women’s views of sexuality: A Norwegian survey. Rehabil Nurs 2003; 28:23-26
Biering-Sørensen I, Hansen RB, Biering-Sørensen F. Sexual function in a traumatic spinal cord injured population 10-45 years after injury. J Rehabil Med. 2012; 44:926-31.
Ferreiro-Velasco ME, Barca-Buyo A, de la Barrera SS et al. Sexual issues in a sample of women with spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2005; 43:51-55.
Sipski ML, Rosen RC, Alexander CJ et al. Sexual responsiveness in women with spinal cord injuries: differential effect of anxiety-eliciting stimulation. Arch Sex Behav 2004; 33:295-302.
Komisaruk BR, Whipple B, Crawford A et al. Brain activation during vaginocervical self-stimulation and orgasm in women with complete spinal cord injury: FMRI evidence of mediation by the vagus nerves. Brain Res 2004; 1024:77-88.
Alexander MS, Rosen RC, Steinberg S et al. Sildenafil in women with sexual arousal disorder following spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2011; 49:273-279.
Stoffel JT, Van der Aa F, Wittmann D et al. Fertility and sexuality in the spinal cord injury patient. World J Urol. 2018; 36:1577-1585.
Iezzoni LI, Chen Y, Jackson McLain AB. Current pregnancy among women with spinal cord injury: findings from the US national spinal cord injury database. Spinal Cord: 2015; 53:821- 826.
Kathiresan ASQ, Ibrahim E, Aballa TC et al. Pregnancy outcomes by intravaginal and intrauterine insemination in 82 couples with male factor infertility due to spinal cord injuries. Fertility and Sterility 2011; 96:328-331.
Anderson D, Borisoff JF, Johnson RD et al. Spinal cord injury influences psychogenic as well as physical components of female sexual ability. Spinal Cord 2007; 349-359.
Pavese C, Kessler TM. Prediction of Lower Urinary Tract, Sexual, and Bowel Function, and Autonomic Dysreflexia after Spinal Cord Injury. Biomedicines. 2023; 11:1644.
Ahuja CS, Wilson JR, Nori S et al. Traumatic spinal cord injury. Nat Rev Dis Prim. 2017; 3:17018.
Salomon J, Schnitzler A, Ville Y et al Prevention of urinary tract infection in six spinal cord-injured pregnant women who gave birth to seven children under a weekly oral cyclic antibiotic program. Int J Infect Dis. 2009; 13:399-402.
Hentzen C, Musco S, Amarenco G et al. Approach and management to patients with neurological disorders reporting sexual dysfunction. Lancet Neurol. 2022; 21:551-562.
Kreuter M, Taft C, Siösteen A et al. Women’s sexual functioning and sex life after spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord. 2011; 49:154-60.
Deforge D, Blackmer J, Moher D et al. Sexuality and reproductive health following spinal cord injury. Evid Rep Technol Assess (Summ) 2004; 109:1-8.
Maasoumi R, Zarei F, Merghati-Khoei E et al. Development of a Sexual Needs Rehabilitation Framework in Women Post-Spinal Cord Injury: A Study From Iran. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2018; 99:548-554.
Merghati-Khoei E, Emami-Razavi SH, Bakhtiyari M et al. Spinal cord injury and women’s sexual life: case–control study. Spinal Cord 2017; 55:269-273.
Barrett OEC, Mattacola E, Finlay KA. “You feel a bit unsexy sometimes”: The psychosocial impact of a spinal cord injury on sexual function and sexual satisfaction. Spinal Cord. 2023; 61:51-56.
Otero-Villaverde S, Ferreiro-Velasco ME, Montoto-Marqués A et al. Sexual satisfaction in women with spinal cord injuries. Spinal Cord 2015; 53:557-560.
Andrei Krassioukov, Stacy Elliott. Neural Control and Physiology of Sexual Function: Effect of Spinal Cord Injury. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil 2017; 23: 1–10.
Hess MJ, Hough S. Impact of spinal cord injury on sexuality: broad-based clinical practice intervention and practical application. J Spinal Cord Med. 2012; 35:211-218.
Parker, M.G., Yau, M.K. Sexuality, Identity and Women with Spinal Cord Injury. Sex Disabil 2012; 30:15–27.
Sipski ML, Arenas A. Female sexual function after spinal cord injury. Prog Brain Res 2006; 152:441-447.
Stacy Elliott, Gaya Jeyathevan, Shea Hocaloski et al. Conception and development of Sexual Health indicators to advance the quality of spinal cord injury rehabilitation: SCI-High Project, J Spinal Cord Med. 2019; 42:68-84
Fritz HA, Dillaway H, Lysack C. “Don’t think paralysis takes away your womanhood”: Sexual intimacy after spinal cord injury. 2015; 69:1-10.
Lombardi G, Del Popolo G, Macchiarella A et al. Sexual rehabilitation in women with spinal cord injury: a critical review of the literature. Spinal Cord 2010; 48:842- 849.
Zizzo J, Gater DR, Hough S et al. Sexuality, Intimacy, and Reproductive Health after Spinal Cord Injury. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2022; 12:1985.
Marcalee Alexander, Frédérique Courtois, Stacy Elliott et al. Improving Sexual Satisfaction in Persons with Spinal Cord Injuries: Collective Wisdom. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil 2017; 23: 57–70.
Thrussell H, Coggrave M, Graham A et al. Women’s experiences of sexuality after spinal cord injury: a UK perspective. Spinal Cord 2018; 56:1084–1094
Khalili M, Berlin M, Pettersson K et al. Pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal outcomes among women with spinal cord injury in Sweden 1997–2015: A population-based cohort study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2022; 101: 1282-1290.
Van den Borne K, Brands I, Spijkerman D. et al. Prevalence of parenthood in wheelchair-dependent persons with long-term spinal cord injury in the Netherlands. Spinal Cord 2018; 56:607–613
Deforge D, Blackmer J, Garritty C et al. Fertility following spinal cord injury: A systematic review. Spinal Cord 2005; 43:693-703.
Leduc BE. Treatment of infertility in 31 men with spinal cord injury. Can J Urol. 2012; 19:6432-6.
Sonksen J, Fode M, Lochner-Ernst D et al. Vibratory ejaculation in 140 spinal cord injured men and home insemination of their partners. Spinal Cord 2012;50:63-66.
Kathiresan AS, Ibrahim E, Aballa TC et al. Comparison of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes in male factor infertility patients with and without spinal cord injuries. Fertil Steril. 2011; 96:562-566.
Bertschy S, Schmidt M, Fiebag K. et al. Guideline for the management of pre-, intra-, and postpartum care of women with a spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2020; 58: 449–458
Smeltzer, Suzanne & Wetzel-Effinger, Lisa. Pregnancy in Women with Spinal Cord Injury. Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation 2009:15:29-42.
Sterling L, Keunen J, Wigdor E et al. Pregnancy outcomes in women with spinal cord lesions. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2013; 35:39-43.
Le Liepvre H, Dinh A, Idiard-Chamois B. et al. Pregnancy in spinal cord-injured women, a cohort study of 37 pregnancies in 25 women. Spinal Cord 2017; 55:167–171
Ghidini A, Healey A, Antreany M. and Simonson M.R. Pregnancy and women with spinal cord injuries. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 2008; 87: 1006-1010
Pannek J., Bertschy S. Mission impossible? Urological management of patients with spinal cord injury during pregnancy: a systematic review. Spinal Cord 2011; 49: 1028-1032.
Robertson K, Ashworth F. Spinal cord injury and pregnancy. Obstet Med. 2022; 15:99-103.
Cabahug, P.G. Managing Spasticity in a Pregnant Woman with Spinal Cord Injury: a Review. Curr Phys Med Rehabil, 2018; 6:245–256.
Robertson K, Dawood R, Ashworth F. Vaginal delivery is safely achieved in pregnancies complicated by spinal cord injury: a retrospective 25-year observational study of pregnancy outcomes in a national spinal injuries centre. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2020 29; 20:56.
Pebdani RN, Johnson KL, Amtmann D. Personal experiences of pregnancy and fertility in individuals with spinal cord injury. Sexuality and Disability 2014; 32:65-74.
Published
2024-06-25
Section
Young Scientists Pages
