Efficacy of Various Treatment in Premature Ejaculation: Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

To investigate the various strategies used for the treatment of premature ejaculation (PE); these encompassed behavioral, drug and surgical interventions.

We retrieved data from electronic literature searches of PubMed and Cochrane library using the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings terms) and text keywords from the earliest available date of indexing through September 2022. The subject headings and text keywords included those related to the population (male patients with PE), interventions & comparisons (mono and combination treatment), and outcomes (ejaculation latency time, ELT).

The initial search identified a total of 454 articles from electronic databases. Finally, a total of 10,474 patients from 59 direct comparison trials were included 143 effect sizes with 43 treatments. Of these, 9 of mono treatments and 4 of combination treatments were statistically significant. Pharmaceutical agents commonly used for patients with PE are prescribed off-label, except for dapoxetine. The surface under the cumulative ranking curve values of ranking probabilities for each treatment performance, which indicated that tramadol 100 mg ranked first in terms of ELT.

Medications recommended by the American Urological Association and the Sexual Medicine Society of North America were all incorporated within the present review, together with additional management approaches that have been evaluated in randomized controlled trials. The findings indicated that in addition to SSRIs, tramadol, clomipramine, topical agents and PDE5 inhibitors could be used in the therapy of PE.