Are platelet-rich therapies the answer to erectile dysfunction?

Platelet-rich therapies (PRTs) do not appear to be better than placebo in improving sexual function in men with erectile dysfunction (ED), a study has shown.

A team of investigators searched the databases of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library in April 2025 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing PRT with placebo in patients with ED. They calculated the pooled risk ratios, mean differences, and standardized mean differences, as well as assessed the certainty of evidence and recommendations strength using the GRADE tool.

The following outcomes were then assessed: the mean change in the erectile function domain of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) score, the rate of men achieving minimum clinically important difference (MCID) in the IIEF-EF score, peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV), and visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score after injection.

Seven RCTs, including 479 patients, met the inclusion criteria. Of the patients, 239 (49.9 percent) were randomized to PRTs.

PRTs and placebo showed no significant difference in the combined IIEF score at 1, 3, and 6 months of follow-up, as well as in the rate of men achieving MCID in IIEF-EF at 1 and 3 months.

Although PRTs demonstrated a significantly higher rate of men achieving MCID in IIEF-EF at 6 months, only three studies provided data for this outcome, thus potentially limiting the strength and generalizability of the result. This finding should be interpreted with caution, the investigators said.

Furthermore, no differences were observed in PSV, EDV, and VAS pain score after injection between the PRT and placebo groups.

“[T]he small number of patients restricts the generalizability of our conclusions,” the investigators said. “Additional high-quality studies are required to clarify the clinical role of PRTs in the management of ED.”