Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28379665›Full record

SynthesisInternational braz j urol : official journal of the Brazilian Society of Urology

Short-term efficacy and safety of low-intensity extracorporeal shock wave therapy in erectile dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Zi-Jun Zou, Liang-You Tang, Zhi-Hong Liu, Jia-Yu Liang, Ruo-Chen Zhang, Yu-Jie Wang, Yong-Quan Tang, Rui Gao, Yi-Ping Lu

Open access · diamondAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International braz j urol : official journal of the Brazilian Society of Urology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Low-intensity shockwave therapy for erectile dysfunction.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Survey of the quality and origins of websites on penile low-intensity shockwave therapy in Canada.Canadian Urological Association journal = Journal de l'Association des urologues du Canada · 2023
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Zi-Jun ZouDepartment of Urology, Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
Liang-You TangDepartment of Urology, Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
Zhi-Hong LiuDepartment of Urology, Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
Jia-Yu LiangDepartment of Urology, Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
Ruo-Chen ZhangDepartment of Urology, Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
Yu-Jie WangDepartment of Urology, Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
Yong-Quan TangDepartment of Urology, Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
Rui GaoDepartment of Urology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, P.R. China.
Yi-Ping LuDepartment of Urology, Institute of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
Sichuan University · CNFujian Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimThe role of low-intensity extracorporeal shock wave therapy (LI-ESWT) in erectile dysfunction (ED) is not clearly determined. The purpose of this study is to investigate the short-term efficacy and safety of LI-ESWT for ED patients. MATERIALS AND

methodsRelevant studies were searched in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WANFANG and VIP databases. Effective rate in terms of International Index of Erectile Function-Erectile Function Domain (IIEF-EF) and Erectile Hardness Score (EHS) at about 1month after LI-ESWT was extracted from eligible studies for meta-analysis to calculate risk ratio (RR) of effective treatment in ED patients treated by LI-ESWT compared to those receiving sham-treatment.

resultsOverall fifteen studies were included in the review, of which four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were for meta-analysis. Effective treatment was 8.31 [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.88-17.78] times more effective in the LI-ESWT group (n=176) than in the sham-treatment group (n=101) at about 1 month after the intervention in terms of EHS, while it was 2.50 (95% CI: 0.74-8.45) times more in the treatment group (n=121) than in the control group (n=89) in terms of IIEF-EF. Nine-week protocol with energy density of 0.09mJ/mm2 and 1500 pluses seemed to have better therapeutic effect than five-week protocol. No significant adverse event was reported.

conclusionLI-ESWT, as a noninvasive treatment, has potential short-term therapeutic effect on patients with organic ED irrespective of sensitivity to PDE5is. Owing to the limited number and quality of the studies, more large-scale, well-designed and long-term follow-up time studies are needed to confirm our analysis.

Indexed as

Erectile DysfunctionHigh-Intensity Focused Ultrasound AblationHumansMaleRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeErectile DysfunctionMeta-Analysis as TopicTherapeutics

Identifiers

PMID28379665
PMCPMC5678511
OpenAlexW2612761987

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.