Evidence of restorative therapies in the treatment of Peyronie disease: A narrative review

Abstract

Objective: To describe the evidence of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), Stem cells therapy (SCT) and Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWL) for the treatment of Peyronies disease (PD), including information from the main urological society guidelines.

Materials and methods: A literature review of PubMed articles published between 2000 and 2023 was conducted, utilizing keywords such as "Peyronie's Disease", "Penile curvature", "Platelet Rich Plasma", "Stem cells", and "Extracorporeal shockwave therapy". Only full-text articles in English were included, excluding case reports and opinions.

Results: A considerable number of clinical trials were conducted using PRP penile injections for therapy of PD, showing reduction of curvature, plaque size and improvement in quality of life. Preclinical studies in rats have shown the potential benefit of adipose-derived stem cells, with improvements in erectile function and fibrosis. Human studies with mesenchymal stem cells demonstrated promising results, with reduction of curvature and plaque size. ESWL effects on PD were investigated in randomized clinical trials and demonstrated no significant impact in curvature or plaque size, but reasonable effect on pain control.

Conclusion: Restorative therapies has emerged as an innovative treatment option for PD and the results from current studies appear to be promising and demonstrated good safety profile. Unfortunately, due to scarce evidence, PRP and SCT are still considered experimental by American Urological Association (AUA) and European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines. ESWT is recommended, by the same guidelines, for pain control only. More high-quality studies with long-term follow-up outcomes are needed to evaluate efficacy and reproducibility of those therapies.

Keywords: Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy; Penile Induration; Platelet-Rich Plasma.