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Low-intensity shockwave therapy in Peyronie’s disease: long-term results from a prospective, randomized, sham-controlled trial

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 34, pages 487–494 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Low-intensity shockwave therapy (LiST) is an effective treatment for pain reduction in patients with Peyronie’s disease (PD). We aimed to report the long-term results of a previously published randomized, sham-controlled trial on LiST for PD management. For the initial study, 102 patients with stable PD were randomly assigned to six sessions of LiST (n = 51) or sham (n = 51) therapy. All participants were subsequently contacted for an additional evaluation at 3 years after completion of the initial treatment and 63 of them (LiST = 34 and sham therapy = 29) presented for the evaluation. Among them, improvement of pain was reported in 23 participants (LiST = 16, sham = 7, p = 0.005) at 4 weeks and in 22 (LiST = 15, sham = 7, p = 0.031) at 3 years. We detected a mean difference of 2.2 points (95%CI: 0.9–3.5, p = 0.002) in the visual analog pain scale at 4 weeks and a mean difference of 2.5 points (95%CI: 1–4, p = 0.002) at 3 years between the two groups. No treatment-related complications occurred during the sessions or the follow-up period. Regarding the improvement of penile curvature or sexual function, no significant differences between the two groups were observed. Overall, LiST constitutes a safe and effective therapeutic approach for pain management both in the short- and long term.

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Fig. 1: Study flow chart.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, ‘Martha-Maria’ Hospital Nuremberg, Nuremberg, Germany

    Ioannis Sokolakis, Nikolaos Pyrgidis & Georgios Hatzichristodoulou

  2. Department of Urology, Goldstadt Clinic, Pforzheim, Germany

    Sven Lahme

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  1. Ioannis Sokolakis
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  3. Sven Lahme
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  4. Georgios Hatzichristodoulou
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Correspondence to Georgios Hatzichristodoulou.

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Sokolakis, I., Pyrgidis, N., Lahme, S. et al. Low-intensity shockwave therapy in Peyronie’s disease: long-term results from a prospective, randomized, sham-controlled trial. Int J Impot Res 34, 487–494 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-021-00447-2

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