Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Practice Point
  • Published:

Does on-demand vardenafil improve erectile function recovery after radical prostatectomy?

Abstract

The randomized, placebo-controlled trial reported by Montorsi and colleagues attempted to determine if nightly vardenafil was more effective than on-demand drug in restoring erectile function after radical prostatectomy. No significant difference in outcomes was found between the study groups at 11 or 13 months after surgery. The study, however, had enough methodological flaws to prevent any definitive conclusions from being drawn. The authors' conclusion that the data support a shift towards on-demand phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor use after radical prostatectomy is not supported by the data.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Montorsi F et al. (1997) Recovery of spontaneous erectile function after nerve-sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy with and without early intracavernous injections of alprostadil: results of a prospective, randomized trial. J Urol 158: 1408–1410

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Padma-Nathan H et al. (2008) Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of postoperative nightly sildenafil citrate for the prevention of erectile dysfunction after bilateral nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy. Int J Impot Res 20: 479–486

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Mulhall J et al. (2005) The use of an erectogenic pharmacotherapy regimen following radical prostatectomy improves recovery of spontaneous erectile function. J Sex Med 2: 532–540

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bannowsky A et al. (2008) Recovery of erectile function after nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy: improvement with nightly low dose sildenafil. BJU Int 101: 1279–1283

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Montorsi F et al. (2008) Effect of nightly versus on-demand vardenafil on recovery of erectile function in men following bilateral nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy. Eur Urol 54: 924–931

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Teloken P et al. (2007) The correlation between erectile function and patient satisfaction. J Sex Med 4: 472–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ghofrani HA et al. (2004) Differences in hemodynamic and oxygenation responses to three different phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: a randomized prospective study. J Am Coll Cardiol 44: 1488–1496

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mulhall, J. Does on-demand vardenafil improve erectile function recovery after radical prostatectomy?. Nat Rev Urol 6, 14–15 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpuro1271

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpuro1271

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing