Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency and the assessment of the different conservative modalities of treatment in Peyronie's disease. A representative survey among 3187 German urologists was performed using a standardized questionnaire comprising currently used concepts of therapy, their efficacy, and their tolerability.
Material and methods: A total of 636 urologists participated in the study. Altogether they had treated 6019 patients with Peyronie's disease in 2003. The majority of urologists treated between 3 and 15 patients per year. The most frequent treatment modality was the administration of potassium paraaminobenzoate, followed by vitamin E and extracorporeal shock wave therapy. Other oral drugs and intralesional drug administrations were used considerably less frequently.
Results: The most commonly used treatment modalities were assessed for the best results in terms of efficacy and tolerability. However, this outcome is contradictory to the few controlled studies regarding the efficacy of the different drugs.
Conclusions: The large number of patients treated demonstrates the importance of conservative therapy for Peyronie's disease. Therefore, it is unfortunate that no conservative treatment modality is currently available that cures the symptoms of this disorder in all patients affected.