title: Bicycle saddle shape affects penile blood flow.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of bicycle saddle shape on penile blood flow during cycling. Penile blood flow was measured using a laser Doppler flowmeter in 20 potent male volunteers. In a counterbalanced, crossover design, measurements were taken in the standing and sitting positions, on either a narrow unpadded or wide unpadded saddle, before and after cycling for 5 min. Before cycling, penile blood flow (ml/min/100 g tissue) was significantly decreased from 1.6+/-0.7 to 1.5+/-0.7 (P=0.010) on the wide saddle and from 1.7+/-0.6 to 1.0+/-0.5 (P<0.001) on the narrow saddle. After 5 min of cycling, the changes in penile blood flow on the wide and narrow saddles were 0.34+/-0.49 and -0.38+/-0.49, respectively (P<0.001). The narrow saddle is associated with more significant reductions in penile blood flow and could be a source of blunt perineal trauma, potentially leading to erectile dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Clinical Sciences, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: S-J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: J-D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Ryu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008297:Male; D010413:Penis / Q000098:blood supply*; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D013997:Time Factors