Testosterone substitution in male hypogonadism is a recognized tool to treat symptomatic patients. Various forms of this treatment exist including a long-acting intramuscular form using testosterone undecanoate given at approximately 3-monthly intervals. Safety aspects inherent to the intramuscular injection of a medication in an oily vehicle have to be recognized.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Middleton, T. et al. Complications of injectable testosterone undecanoate in routine clinical practice. Eur. J. Endocrinol. 172, 511–517 (2015).
Svendsen, O. & Aaes-Jørgensen, T. Studies on the fate of vegetable oil after intramuscular injection into experimental animals. Acta Pharmacol. Toxicol. (Copenh.) 45, 352–378 (1979).
Svendsen, O., Dencker, S. J., Fog, R., Gravem, A. O. & Kristjansen, P. Microscopic evidence of lymphogenic absorption of oil in humans receiving neuroleptic oily depot preparations intramuscularly. Acta Pharmacol. Toxicol. (Copenh.) 47, 157–158 (1980).
Bron, K. M., Baum, S. & Abrams, H. L. Oil embolism in lymphangiography. Incidence, manifestations, and mechanisms. Radiology 80, 194–202 (1963).
Mackey, M. A., Conway, A. J. & Handelsman, D. J. Tolerability of intramuscular injections of testosterone ester in an oil vehicle. Hum. Reprod. 10, 862–865 (1995).
Zitzmann, M. et al. IPASS: a study on the tolerability and effectiveness of injectable testosterone undecanoate for the treatment of male hypogonadism in a worldwide sample of 1,438 men. J. Sex. Med. 10, 579–588 (2013).
Bachman, E. et al. Testosterone induces erythrocytosis via increased erythropoietin and suppressed hepcidin: evidence for a new erythropoietin/hemoglobin set point. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 69, 725–735 (2014).
Coviello, A. D. et al. Effects of graded doses of testosterone on erythropoiesis in healthy young and older men. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 93, 914–919 (2008).
Jockenhövel, F., Vogel, E., Reinhardt, W. & Reinwein, D. Effects of various modes of androgen substitution therapy on erythropoiesis. Eur. J. Med. Res. 2, 293–298 (1997).
Dobs, A. S. et al. Pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety of a permeation-enhanced testosterone transdermal system in comparison with bi-weekly injections of testosterone enanthate for the treatment of hypogonadal men. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 84, 3469–3478 (1999).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zitzmann, M. Are long-acting intramuscular testosterone injections safe?. Nat Rev Urol 12, 248–249 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2015.73
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2015.73
