What is Peyronie’s disease?
Peyronie’s disease or plastic induration of the penis is a process of unknown cause characterized by a plaque or scar on the penis that grows under the skin of the penis and produces an incurvature during erection. This fibrosis or scarring produces an attraction of the penis during erection and this is what causes the incurvature of the penis. This incurvation is painful at the beginning and then this type of pain disappears. This disease is usually unilateral and appears mainly in men between fifty and seventy years of age.
Why does this disease occur and what treatments are available?
It is not known why Peyronie’s disease occurs. Many times it can result from trauma during penetration, although many studies relate the disease to an alteration of the immune system or abnormal scarring. This disease has a very variable evolution, but in most patients it is usually progressive until the scar is stabilized and the patient reaches a certain degree of curvature. The goals of treatment are to relieve pain, improve the degree of curvature and allow penetration during sexual intercourse. Most of the treatments that have been tried throughout history are totally ineffective and have no scientific evidence. Initially one can always try a type of medical treatment and ultimately the definitive treatment so far has been surgery. Lithotripsy or low-energy shock waves, applied on the penis, act in the pain phase decreasing or making the pain disappear. But once the curvature is totally established, the only definitive treatment until now has been surgery. The problem with surgery in Peyronie’s disease is that it is a complex surgery and in many cases it produces a significant shortening of the penis.
What is Peyroflex treatment and how does it work?
The FDA or American Ministry of Health has approved in 2013 the first drug for Peyronie’s disease. Now finally arrives in Spain, from Laser Médical Rent this drug that will avoid surgery in many cases. Peyroflex is the first non-surgical alternative for the treatment of Peyronie’s disease in patients with a degree of curvature greater than 30 degrees. Peyroflex is a biological medicine extracted from the toxin of histolytic clostridium. Peyroflex acts through injections that we make in the plaque, undoing the accumulation of collagen or that scar.
How is the treatment applied and is it safe and effective?
The treatment consists of several cycles. The first day the drug is injected into the plaque. About 48 hours after the first injection, a second injection is made in the area of the plaque. And at 48 hours, a penile modeling takes place to try to break the plaque. After this treatment, the patient is taught a series of exercises to be performed at home for at least six weeks. At the end of this period the patient is reevaluated and in many cases a second or third cycle of treatment is needed. The safety and efficacy of Peyroflex has been established in two large studies with more than 832 patients who had a degree of curvature greater than 30 degrees. In most cases the degree of curvature improved by more than 40 or 50 degrees. Therefore treatment with Peyroflex significantly reduced the degree of incurvature and the bothersome disease-related effects.