Efficacy and safety of platelet-rich plasma intracavernous injection for patients with erectile dysfunction: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression

Objective

Intracavernous injection might be offered to patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) who did not respond to the first-line oral treatment. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) might offer improvement in erectile function since it contains numerous growth factors. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PRP intracavernous injection for patients with ED.

Methods

We conducted relevant literature searches on Cochrane Library, Medline, Scopus, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases using specific keywords. The results of continuous variables were pooled into the mean difference (MD) and dichotomous variables into the odds ratio along with 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

Results

A total of six studies were included. Our pooled analysis revealed that PRP intracavernous injection was associated with a significant increase in the erectile function domain of the International Index of Erectile Function at 1 month (MD 3.47 [95% CI 2.62–4.32], p<0.00001, I²=7%), 3 months (MD 3.19 [95% CI 2.25–4.12], p<0.00001, I²=0%), and 6 months (MD 3.21 [95% CI 2.30–4.13], p<0.00001, I²=0%) after the intervention when compared with baseline values. PRP was also superior to a placebo in terms of improvement in erectile function domain of the International Index of Erectile Function score at 1 month (MD 2.83, p<0.00001), 3 months (MD 2.87, p<0.00001), and 6 months (MD 3.20, p<0.00001) post-intervention. The adverse events from PRP injection were only mild without any serious adverse events.

Conclusion

PRP intracavernous injection may offer benefits in improving erectile function in patients with ED with a relatively good safety profile.