No clinical evidence exists to support the use of platelet-rich plasma therapy as a treatment for erectile dysfunction. But that’s not stopping business at the hundreds of clinics already offering the P-shot.
The injection of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to rejuvenate erectile function provides the basis for an already thriving business in pop-up PRP clinics around the world. There’s only one caveat: “No scientific evidence has been published to establish an evidence-based risk-benefit profile for PRP use for ED in humans.”
That was the conclusion reached by three Australian researchers in a recent study designed to identify and evaluate evidence showing the efficacy and safety of PRP injections. Their findings, published in the April 2019 issue of Sexual Medicine Reviews, serve as a warning to prospective users of this form of therapy, also known as the P-Shot or Priapus Shot.
Others Concur
And the Australian research team is not alone. The International Society for Sexual Medicine acknowledges that “some practitioners claim that PRP injections into the penis or the vagina can improve sexual function and satisfaction.” However, continues the ISSM, this form of therapy “is considered experimental and has not been widely studied.”
This is not to suggest that PRP therapy has no value as a treatment for erectile dysfunction but rather that there is not yet adequate clinical evidence to recommend it.
In a March 2019 position paper, the Sexual Medicine Society of North America reaffirms in principle its support of new restorative therapies for the treatment of ED. However, it notes that despite some hopeful evidence from animal studies “there are no human studies evaluating PRP as an erectogenic therapy.”
Results from One Animal Study
The animal studies to which SMSNA refers include a study conducted by Taiwanese researchers that was published in the April 2018 issue of The Journal of Urology. For that study, researchers evaluated the effects of PRP therapy on the recovery of erectile function in laboratory rat models of diabetes. Diabetes-like damage to the animals’ cavernous nerves was induced through injections of streptozotocin.
In that study, the PRP injections improved erectile function in all rats that received the therapy, leading researchers to suggest that it might eventually prove useful in treating ED in human diabetics.
PRP Business Still Thriving
It’s clear that the absence of clinical evidence to support the efficacy of PRP therapy has done nothing to slow down the very active business at hundreds of PRP clinics worldwide. The cost for the PRP injection and follow-up visits ranges from $1,800 to $2,200.
Until solid clinical evidence emerges to support the use of PRP therapy in humans, men suffering from ED might better spend that money by stocking up on Viagra or another oral ED medication.
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