Viagra in Men With Spinal Cord Injury
February 16, 1999
Daniel J. DeNoon's Insider NewsFile via NewsEdge Corporation : Men with erectile dysfunction caused by a spinal cord injury between T6 and L5 may find significant improvement in their sex lives using oral sildenafil.
Researchers F.A. Derry and colleagues in Britain evaluated the efficacy and safety of 50 mg doses of sildenafil during a 28-day period in patients with erectile dysfunction caused by spinal cord injury at cord level ranges T6 through L5 ("Efficacy and Safety of Oral Sildenafil (Viagra) in Men with Erectile Dysfunction Caused by Spinal Cord Injury," Neurology, December 1998;51(6):1629-1633).
"Sildenafil is an orally active, potent, and selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase type 5, an important regulator of cyclic guanosine monophosphate in the human corpus cavernosum. To be included in this double- blind, placebo-controlled study, all patients had to be able to achieve at least a partial reflexogenic erectile response to penile vibratory stimulation, " the authors explained.
Twenty-seven patients were randomized to receive 50 mg of sildenafil or placebo, taken orally as required (not more than once daily) approximately one hour before sexual activity.
After 28 days of treatment, nine of 12 patients (75 percent) on sildenafil and one of 14 patients (7 percent) on placebo reported that treatment had improved their erections (p=0.0043).
The researchers reported found that eight of 12 patients (67 percent) on sildenafil and two of 13 patients (15 percent) on placebo indicated that they wished to continue treatment (p=0.018).
Derry et al. noted that patients taking sildenafil reported a significant improvement in satisfaction with their sex life and no patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events.
"Oral sildenafil, taken as required (not more than once daily), significantly improves the quality of erections and satisfaction with sex life in men with erectile dysfunction caused by a spinal cord injury between T6 and L5," Derry et al. concluded.
The corresponding author for this study is M.C. Maytom, Pfizer Century Research, Ramsgate Road, Sandwich CT13 9NJ, Kent, England.
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