Abstract
Diabetes is an important risk factor in erectile dysfunction (ED), acting via several mechanisms. We assessed the efficacy of intracavernous injections (ICI) rehabilitation and oral systematic therapy in diabetic patients, as well as the response of controls to oral therapy ‘on demand’.
Materials and Methods
Sixteen diabetic patients with ED were treated with vasoactive drugs orally when needed, without satisfactory erections. The patients underwent then ICI rehabilitation with PGE1 20 mcg twice weekly for 4 weeks, followed by the administration of oral drugs twice weekly for 4 weeks. Before and after rehabilitation, the patients completed a detailed anamnestic protocol to study their libido (always present); they answered questions Q3 and Q4 of the IIEF questionnaire. During ICI, a study with dynamic echocolordoppler (ECCD) was carried out. All patients had Type 2 diabetes: 10 were treated with oral antidiabetics, 4 were treated with insulin, and in the other 2 patients, treated with insulin, a sensitive neuropathy of the lower limbs was diagnosed. Fourteen patients were treated with antihypertensive drugs.
Results
Before rehabilitation, the mean responses to questions 3 and 4 of the IIEF (International Index of Erectile Function) questionnaire were 1.6 and 1.5 respectively; after rehabilitation, the mean responses were 2.68 and 2.5, respectively. The ECCD test showed an arterial component in 4 cases and a high end-diastolic velocity (EDV) in 14 cases. Four patients (25%), 2 of which had neuropathy, and 2 were in advanced age, did not respond to PGE1 or to oral therapy, 4 patients (25%) (2 treated with insulin and 2 by oral therapy) responded to ICI but not to oral therapy, while 8 patients (50%) showed a good response to both injectable and oral therapy, with good Q3 and Q4 scores.
Conclusions
Good endothelial function appears to be essential for the maintenance of acceptable erectile function. Diabetes has a negative effect on this function, as does hypoxia and low perfusion. Based on the principle that a good erection improves endothelial function, we tried to determine if oral systematic and intracavernous rehabilitation would improve erectile function in diabetic patients. The results indicate that diabetes interferes with erectile function, compromising the effects of the vasoactive drugs. However, integrated systematic rehabilitation appears to allow a good erectile response to both intracavernous and oral therapy in a large number of cases. Therefore, we support this kind of rehabilitative protocol in the treatment of ED in diabetic patients.
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