[Efficacy and safety of local injections treatments for Peyronie's disease: Review of the literature]

Abstract

Aim: To assess the efficacy and safety of local injection used to reduce penile curvature in Peyronie's disease.

Methods: A review of the literature was carried out according to the PRISMA guidelines (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes) on the Medline database in April 2020, with the research: "collagenase"[All Fields] OR "Interferon"[All Fields] OR "verapamil"[All Fields] OR "betamethasone"[All Fields] OR "hyaluronic acid"[All Fields] OR "Platelet-Rich Plasma"[All Fields] OR "Stem Cells"[All Fields] AND "peyronie's"[All Fields] AND Controlled Clinical Trial[ptyp]. Only controlled studies with placebo group were included in this review.

Results: Of the 35 articles identified, 6 placebo-controlled studies were finally included. Intra-plaque injections of verapamil did not show improvement in penile curvature. Injections of interferon α 2b and clostridium histolyticum collagenase allowed a statistically significant improvement in terms of curvature reduction: 13.5 versus 4.5 degrees P<0.01) and 17 versus 9.3 degrees P<0.0001 respectively. However, interferon α 2b is not available in France for Peyronie's disease and clostridium histolyticum collagenase is no longer authorized since March 1, 2020. No controlled studies are available on corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid, platelet-rich plasma or stem cells injections.

Conclusion: To correct the deformity in Peyronie's disease in the chronic phase, there is no effective solution currently available in France based on controlled studies. Surgery retains its place for the correction of a curvature of at least 30° associated with a sexual handicap in the stable phase, however at the cost of potential adverse effects. Stem cell or Platelet-Rich Plasma injection might be an injectable therapeutic alternative but need controlled studies.

Keywords: Erection; Induration des corps caverneux; Injections; Maladie de La Peyronie; Penile induration; Peyronie's disease; Therapeutics; Thérapeutique; Érection.