Conservative treatment of Peyronie's disease: Colchicine vs. colchicine plus vitamin E

Abstract Objective To retrospectively review the response of patients with Peyronie's disease (PD) treated with colchicine monotherapy (CM) and colchicine combined with vitamin E (CVE). Materials and methods One hundred patients with PD were assessed. Fifty-nine patients received oral CM at doses of 1.5 mg/day, and 41 patients oral CVE at doses of 1.5/800 mg/day. Response was categorized as good when at least two of the following requirements were met: curvature decrease/stabilization and/or plaque size and/or pain relief. Response was defined as partial when at least one of these requirements was met. No statistical differences were found between the groups. Results A good response was found in 39% and 41% of patients in the CM and CVE groups respectively. When each variable was assessed, plaque size improvement was seen in 36% vs 29%, pain relief in 45% vs 57%, and curvature improvement in 32% vs 33% of patients in the CM and CVE groups respectively. None of these differences was statistically significant. Conclusion This study showed no statistically significant differences in efficacy for pain relief, penile curvature, or plaque size between conservative oral treatment with CVE and CM. However, there is some evidence of a positive prognostic effect on conservative treatment in cases with a history of previous failed treatment. This was statistically significant in the CVE group, supporting the theory of combined treatment. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study should be conducted to confirm our results.