Shockwave Therapy Improves Erectile Function and Quality of Life in Patients with Peyronie’s Disease
Authors: Alessandro Palmieri, Ciro Imbimbo, Nicola Longo, Ferdinando Fusco, Paolo Verze, Francesco Mangiapia, Massimiliano Creta *, Vincenzo Mirone
This study investigated the effects of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) in patients with Peyronie’s disease (PD), a condition in which scar tissue forms inside the penis, causing it to curve during erection and often resulting in pain and difficulty with sexual activity. The study enrolled 100 patients who had not previously received PD-related treatments and randomly allocated them to either receive ESWT or a placebo treatment.
Over the course of four weekly treatment sessions, patients who received ESWT experienced significant improvements in pain during erection, erectile function, and quality of life compared to those who received the placebo treatment. While the size of the scar tissue and curvature of the penis did not change significantly in either group after 12 weeks, after 24 weeks, patients in the placebo group experienced a significant increase in both compared to both their baseline measurements and the ESWT group.
The study suggests that ESWT may be a promising conservative therapy for patients with PD, providing pain relief and improving erectile function and quality of life. Overall, the findings of this study add to the growing body of evidence supporting the use of ESWT as a non-invasive and effective treatment option for patients with PD, offering a potential alternative to surgery or other more invasive treatments.