IMPROVING SUCCESS RATES OF INTRAURETHRAL ALPROSTADIL: THE IMPORTANCE OF PATIENTS THERAPEUTIC ADHERENCE IN ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION TREATMENT

The incorrect administration of intraurethral Alprostadil is one of the causes of the lack of confidence in this preparation among patients with Erectile Dysfunction (ED). We present the results in terms of erectile quality of an education/instruction program for patients in the application of intraurethral cream.

Compared to a 70% success rate with 5-Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors (PDE%i), intraurethral Alprostadil cream (IAC) in monotherapy barely achieves 30-40% efficacy; For this reason, intraurethral therapy is recommended as a combined treatment. Added to this low percentage is the abandonment of treatment by almost 50% of patients.

From among all patients under ED follow-up who had been prescribed IAC, we selected 76 who had abandoned treatment. No Psychogenic ED was included. Anthropometrics: 69 years (57-82).

A survey was conducted on the aspects related to Sexual Encounter Profile (SEP) and Global Assessment Question (GAQ) of the International Index if Erectile Dysfunction (IIEF) before and after instructing them in the application of the IAC.

Subsequently, an assessment of the Sexual Quality of Life improvement was carried out 3 months later using the YES/NO question.

Causes of ED:

1: Vascular                        32

2: Endocrine                      22

3: Postoperative                 15

4: Postradiotherapy             7

Reasons for abandoning treatment:

A: Lack of explanations from the Doctor 14

B: Cream administration difficulty           10

C: Urethral burning                                   5

D: Time to reach effect                             12

Improvement after health education:

YES:        32 (42%)

NO:         44

Improvement due to Causes:

Vascular:            14

Endocrine:          10

Postoperative:      4

Postradiotherapy: 4

1. Patients mainly complain of difficulty in applying IAC.

2. Patient health education through therapeutic adherence is essential to achieve the success of the IAC.

3. It is the responsibility of doctors to adequately inform patients of prescriptions.

We declare NO conflicts of interest.