Urologists' Perceptions and Practice Patterns in Peyronie's Disease: A Korean Nationwide Survey Including Patient Satisfaction.
OBJECTIVE
A nationwide survey was conducted of Korean urologists to illustrate physicians' perceptions and real practical patterns regarding Peyronie disease (PD).


METHODS
A specially designed questionnaire exploring practice characteristics and attitudes regarding PD, as well as patient satisfaction with each treatment modality, was e-mailed to 2,421 randomly selected urologists.


RESULTS
Responses were received from 385 practicing urologists (15.9%) with a median time after certification as an urologist of 12 years. Regarding the natural course, 87% of respondents believed that PD is a progressive disease, and 82% replied that spontaneous healing in PD occurred in fewer than 20% of patients. Regarding diagnosis of PD, the methods used were, in order, history taking with physical examination (98%), International Index of Erectile Function questionnaires (40%), intracavernous injection and stimulation (35%), and duplex sonography (28%). Vitamin E was most preferred as an initial medical management (80.2%), followed by phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (27.4%) and Potaba (aminobenzoate potassium, 20.1%). For urologists who administered intralesional injection, the injected agent was, in order, corticosteroid (72.2%), verapamil (45.1%), and interferon (3.2%). The most frequently performed surgical procedure was plication (84.1%), followed by excision and graft (42.9%) and penile prosthesis implantation (14.2%). Among the most popular treatments in each modality, the urologists' perceptions regarding the suitability of treatment and patient satisfaction were significantly different, favoring plication surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
The practice pattern of urologists depicted in this survey is in line with currently available Western guidelines, which indicates the need for development of further local guidelines based on solid clinical data.
Department of Urology, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
Young Hwii
YH
Ko
Department of Urology, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
Ki Hak
KH
Moon
Department of Urology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Sung Won
SW
Lee
Department of Urology, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Sae Woong
SW
Kim
Department of Urology, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea.
Dae Yul
DY
Yang
Department of Urology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Du Geon
du G
Moon
Department of Urology, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Woo Sik
WS
Chung
Department of Urology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
Kyung Jin
KJ
Oh
Department of Urology, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju, Korea.
Jae Seog
JS
Hyun
Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
Ji Kan
JK
Ryu
Department of Urology, Busan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.
Hyun Jun
HJ
Park
Department of Urology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
Kwangsung
K
Park
Data collection; Penile induration; Perception