OBJECTIVE: To identify the rat cavernous nerve and establish a rat model of erectile dysfunction (ED) caused by injury of the cavernous nerve. METHODS: Twenty rats underwent dissections. Cavernous nerves were identified with the aid of an operating microscope and confirmed by electrical stimulation. Then, 42 experimental rats were randomized into 3 groups, including sham-operated controls and unilateral and bilateral cavernous nerve ablation groups. Three weeks after surgery, rat models were evaluated with the Apomorphine test. RESULTS: The major pelvic ganglion lies on either side of the dorsolateral lobes of the prostate.It includes 2 inflows, one called hypogastric nerve and the other, the pelvic nerve. The largest outflow is termed the cavernous nerve. Stimulus parameters which could induce obvious penile erection were 5 volts, a frequency of 20 Hertz and a duration of 5 milliseconds. Three weeks after surgery, apomorphine could induce penile erection of each rat in the controls with a mean of 2.57 +/- 1.40 erections in 30 minutes, while there were no erections (0.00 +/- 0.00) in either the unilateral or bilateral groups. CONCLUSIONS: The rat large ganglion and its cavernous nerve can be easily identified and it produces an obvious response to electrical stimulation. Rats are low cost animals to purchase, easy to house and very available making an ideal animal for developing an ED model caused by cavernous nerve injury. In addition, our study showed that in the early period of cavernous nerve ablation, unilateral and bilateral treated rats lost erectile capacity.
