Emerging treatments for premature ejaculation: focus on dapoxetine

Wayne Hellstrom
2008 Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment  
Premature ejaculation (PE) is a common problem in men worldwide. It has a signifi cant impact on affected men and their partners in terms of self-esteem, dissatisfaction with their sexual relationships, personal distress, and interpersonal diffi culty. Psychological therapies may achieve short-term improvements, but there are limited data on the long-term success of these methods. Oral therapy with long-acting selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) improves intravaginal ejaculatory
more » ... ncy time (IELT), but these agents are designed to be administered daily and may be associated with unwanted sexual side effects and withdrawal symptoms upon abrupt discontinuation. Dapoxetine is a short-acting SSRI that can be taken as needed (prn) by men with PE. It has been studied in fi ve separate multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials involving more than 6000 men with PE. In four studies that evaluated IELT as an endpoint (N = 4843), dapoxetine 30 and 60 mg prn achieved statistically signifi cant increases in IELT versus placebo. Dapoxetine also showed statistically signifi cant improvements in perceived control over ejaculation, PE-related personal distress, and other patient-reported outcomes in all fi ve trials. Dapoxetine treatment is generally well-tolerated, with low incidences of discontinuation syndrome, sexual dysfunction, and treatment-emergent mood symptoms. The most common adverse events with dapoxetine included nausea, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, and somnolence.
doi:10.2147/ndt.s3251 fatcat:z6waju2rw5h2pf6zlz2fq7eqj4