ArticleTranslational andrology and urology2021
Low-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy for erectile dysfunction: an overview of systematic reviews.
Article in Translational andrology and urology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Low-intensity shockwave therapy for erectile dysfunction: An abridged Cochrane review.BJU international · 2026Pooled it
- Low-intensity shockwave therapy for erectile dysfunction.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Use of Secondary Reflectors for Enhanced ESWT Treatment of the Penis.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Variations in Low Intensity Shockwave Treatment Protocols for Erectile Dysfunction: A Review of the Literature and Guide to Offering Treatment.The world journal of men's health · 2024Review
- Regenerative therapies as a potential treatment of erectile dysfunction.Investigative and clinical urology · 2023Review
- The use of low-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy in management of erectile dysfunction following prostate cancer treatment: a review of the current literature.Translational andrology and urology · 2023Review
- Advances in physical diagnosis and treatment of male erectile dysfunction.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLow-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy (LI-ESWT) may be a successful complementary treatment approach for erectile dysfunction (ED). In this study, we aimed to review and summarize the research evidence from systematic reviews (SRs)/meta-analyses (MAs) regarding the clinical effectiveness of LI-ESWT for ED.
methodsStudies on LI-ESWT for ED were searched using eight electronic databases from establishment of each database to 31 June 2021 with the language restrictions of Chinese and English. All articles were screened, and qualifying data were recorded based on the inclusion criteria. Methods including: the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2); the Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS); the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA); and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment Development, and the Evaluation (GRADE) were used by two independent raters to assess methodological quality, risk of bias, reporting quality, and SR evidence of quality, respectively.
resultsEight SRs/MAs met all inclusion criteria. Seven reviews were rated as critically low on overall confidence and one review was low on confidence based on the AMSTAR-2 appraisal tool. While most PRISMA criteria were met, the major reporting flaws were in relation the financial statements not being included, along with no protocol registrations. Three SRs/MAs were classed as low risk regarding bias as measured by the ROBIS tool. Based on the GRADE method, only one SRs/MAs of high-quality evidence and seven SRs/MAs of moderate-quality evidence were found. The present research results supported LI-ESWT as a complementary therapy for ED patients, but the evidence should be considered carefully due to the methodological flaws identified. DISCUSSION: Our results showed that LI-ESWT as an adjunctive therapy has benefits for ED patients. There were no obvious side effects, and the number of shockwave treatments and energy flux density (EFD) would affect the IIEF-EF, EHS and PSV scores. However, due to the limited sample size and the quality of reporting evidence, our conclusions may not be fully representative.
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