title: Herb formula enhances treatment of impotent patients after penile venous stripping: a randomised clinical trials.
abstract: Herbs have been regarded as aphrodisiacs in treating impotence for many centuries despite little true scientific evidence. Our latest refined penile venous stripping (PVS) technique is effective in treating impotence, although this procedure remains controversial. A synergic effect of PVS and oral herbs was confirmed in our practice but lacked rigorous scientific proof. The objective of this report was to review our experience with this combination. From August 2010 to May 2014, 263 males underwent PVS. Among these, 67 unsatisfied men chose additional salvage therapy and were randomly assigned to oral herbs (n = 35) or placebo treatment (n = 32) which replaced herb eventually. All were evaluated with the international index of erectile function (IIEF-5) scoring and our dual pharmaco-cavernosography. The pre-op IIEF-5 score for the herb group was 9.7 ± 3.7, post-operative 13.9 ± 3.3 and post-herb 19.6 ± 3.4, while the control group scores were as follows: pre-op 9.3 ± 4.1, post-op 14.5 ± 3.6, post-placebo 15.1 ± 3.5 and post-herb 19.9 ± 3.2. Although there was no significant difference between the two groups pre-operatively, post-operatively and post-herb, a statistically significant difference was found post-salvage therapy (19.6 ± 3.4 versus 15.1 ± 3.6, P < 0.001). It appears that the combination of oral herbs and PVS treatment provides an enhanced outcome to impotent patients refractory to medicine and unsatisfied with PVS monotherapy alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Taipei Tzuchi Hospital, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan.|School of Medicine, Buddhist Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: H-C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.|Microsurgical Potency Reconstruction and Research Center, Hsu's Andrology, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: G-L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Microsurgical Potency Reconstruction and Research Center, Hsu's Andrology, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Microsurgical Potency Reconstruction and Research Center, Hsu's Andrology, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D018783:Impotence, Vasculogenic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010413:Penis / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D010690:Phlebography; D016879:Salvage Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D014680:Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal
keywords: Erectile dysfunction; herb formula; penile venous stripping; phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor; synergic effect