The effect of transurethral alprostadil on the quality of life of men with erectile dysfunction, and their partners

Objective To evaluate the impact of treatment for erectile dysfunction on the quality of life of men and their partners. Patients and methods The study included 249 men with organic erectile dysfunction of more than 3 months’ duration who self‐administered transurethral alprostadil in an open‐label, dose‐escalating manner in an outpatient medical setting. Patients with a sufficient response (159) were randomly assigned in a double‐blind protocol to either active medication or placebo for 3 months at home. Patients and partners each completed quality‐of‐life questionnaires before and after treatment. Results In the clinic 159 of the 249 men (64%) had an erection sufficient for intercourse when using transurethral alprostadil. At home, 46 of 67 men (69%) reported intercourse at least once on transurethral alprostadil, compared with eight of 73 (11%) on placebo ( P <0.001). Patients on alprostadil showed a 34% improvement in their ‘relationship with partner’, a 5% improvement in ‘personal wellness’, and a 71% improvement in ‘quality of erection’ domains, compared with a decline of 11%, 8% and 1%, respectively, in patients on placebo ( P <0.005 for each comparison). Partners of patients on alprostadil showed a 35% improvement in the ‘relationship with partner’ domain, compared with a 12% improvement in the placebo group ( P =0.028). There was a trend toward improvement in other partner domains. Urogenital pain was reported by 14% of patients during home treatment. Conclusion The resumption of sexual intercourse with the use of transurethral alprostadil was accompanied by an improvement in several important quality‐of‐life domains in patients and their partners.