Diagnosis and Treatment of Premature Ejaculation by Urologists in South Korea

Perceptions, Expectations, Preferences, and Attitudes Toward Premature Ejaculation, Its Diagnosis and Topical Treatment with Fortacin™ Spray: Results from an Expert Panel Discussion

INTRODUCTION

Premature ejaculation (PE) represents the most prevalent male sexual issue. Before beginning treatment, it is essential to discuss the patient's expectations thoroughly.

METHODS

Herein, we report the results of an expert panel discussion about perceptions, expectations, preferences, and attitudes towards PE, its diagnosis and treatment. The panel took place in October 2019 and involved 30 Italian urologists experienced in the management of male sexual dysfunction. It aimed at investigating physicians' points of view about selected aspects of PE management which emerged during the counselling of PE patients over the previous two years. Treatment-related questions were mainly focused on topical treatment with Fortacin™.

RESULTS

Overall, 83.3% of those interviewed declared that most of their patients perceive PE as a bother rather than a disease. The percentage of urologists interviewed perceived that improved subjective control over ejaculation and prolonged intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT) as the main benefit expected by the majority of their patients was 56.5% and 10%, respectively. Eighty percent of urologists reported on-demand regimen as the dosage modality preferred by the majority of their patients and half of them reported the topical route to be the way of administration preferred in most cases. Moreover, 73.3% of urologists reported that adherence to treatment was higher in patients undergoing topical treatment. Finally, 80% of urologists perceived Fortacin to be efficacious in patients with acquired PE and 70% of them perceived its efficacy to be independent from IELT.

DISCUSSION

Most patients perceive PE as a bother rather than a disease and mainly advocate an improved control over ejaculation. Fortacin is perceived as efficacious in patients with acquired PE, and independent from IELT.

Advantages and limitations of current premature ejaculation assessment and diagnostic methods: a review

Premature ejaculation (PE) is the most common male sexual dysfunction worldwide. Characteristic symptoms of PE are unexpected, rapid, complete ejaculation, which negatively impacts the sexual act for both sexual partners. Despite the existence of a definitive PE classification system and various diagnostic tools, diagnosing PE is still challenging due to the limitations associated with the assessment of this condition. Hence, it is necessary to review the diagnostic methods and processes of the physical examination that are currently performed in the medical setting. It is also important to analyze any controversial results of each main PE assessment method and propose novel diagnostic and assessment methods. To date, it is important to verify the accuracy of the PE evaluation method due to the ambiguity of previous definitions and proven invalidity of current examining techniques. Clinical diagnosis is based mainly on the patient history, patient-reported outcome scores, and diagnostic tools. Introduction of intravaginal ejaculatory latency time, penile biothesiometry, and the electrophysiological test provided objective means of evaluating PE. Due to the controversial and inconclusive findings in PE psychogenic and neurogenic etiology, utilizing a single parameter to describe and qualify PE using the aforementioned diagnostic methods provides valuable, but insufficient information for PE diagnosis. There is still a lack of a feasible and plausible means of objective measurement to evaluate the ejaculatory latency and control over ejaculation. Consequently, a comprehensive penile stimulation that simulates sexual intercourse could be useful to record intensity and duration parameters before the ejaculatory threshold, providing a more accurate method of describing and diagnosing PE versus a single chronological observation.

Practice Patterns Among Korean Urologists for Glans Penis Augmentation Using Hyaluronic Acid Filler in the Management of Premature Ejaculation

Introduction

Glans penis augmentation (GPA) using hyaluronic acid (HA) gel has been developed for treating premature ejaculation (PE) with penile hypersensitivity. The injected HA filler creates a barrier that reduces the tactile stimuli to the hypersensitive dorsal nerve. Although the HA filler is biodegradable and is believed to not cause permanent loss of sexual function, the current International Society for Sexual Medicine guideline for PE does not recommend this procedure owing to concerns regarding sexual dysfunction.

Aim

To investigate the practice patterns for GPA using HA filler among Korean urologists, and to identify whether urologist experienced patient reports of sexual dysfunction post-treatment.

Methods

Between March 2016 and July 2016, a specially designed questionnaire was mailed to 86 selected Korean urologists who had used injectable materials to treat PE.

Main Outcome Measures

The prevalence and awareness of sexual dysfunction after GPA using HA filler were evaluated.

Results

Overall, 56 urologists completed the survey (response rate: 69.2%), of which 36 (64.3%) had performed GPA using HA filler. They reported having performed a combined total of 4,344 such GPA procedures. Most urologists (72.7%) performed GPA using HA filler in patients who benefit from topical anesthetics. Patients with a history of failed pharmacotherapy (59.1%) and selective dorsal nerve neurotomy (45.5%) were selected for GPA using HA filler. The respondents (44.4%) encountered overall 206 (4.7%) cases of patients reports of recurrence of PE. Interestingly, only 36 (0.8%) cases of glans pain or paresthesia and no cases of erectile dysfunction post-treatment were reported.

Conclusion

Korean urologists performed GPA using HA filler when pharmacotherapy failed or if there was a response to topical treatment. Paresthesia and hypoesthesia after GPA using HA filler are rare, and no cases of erectile dysfunction were encountered by Korean urologists.

Jeong HG, Ahn ST, Kim JW, et al. Practice Patterns Among Korean Urologists for Glans Penis Augmentation Using Hyaluronic Acid Filler in the Management of Premature Ejaculation. Sex Med 2018;6:297–301.