Premature ejaculation is a common but incompletely understood male sexual dysfunction. Recent years have witnessed fruitful researches on NO in the mechanism of male ejaculation and successful application of selective PDE5 inhibitor in the treatment of male sexual dysfunction. And now the researches on the etiopathogenesis, mechanism, diagnosis and therapy of premature ejaculation have achieved great development. Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been widely applied to clinical practice, but with increasing adverse effects. The purpose of the review is to introduce the updated development of the epidemiology, definition, etiopathogenesis, mechanism and therapy of premature ejaculation, and to provide some reference for the diagnosis and management of the problem.