Combination therapy of tadalafil and pentoxifylline in severe erectile dysfunction; A prospective randomized trial

The aim of the study was to assess efficacy of Tadalafil alone versus Tadalafil plus Pentoxifylline in the treatment of erectile dysfunction by using self administered IIEF-5 questionnaire.Two hundred and thirty seven patients presenting with ED at andrology OPD were evaluated for ED by a self administered IIEF (International Index of Erectile Function) questionnaire. Patients were systematically randomized by computer generated random table into two groups groups namely, group A: Tadalafil only group, group B: combination of Tadalafil + Pentoxifyl-line. All the patients were re-assessed by IIEF-5 questionnaire after 8 weeks of medical therapy. Statistical analysis was performed using student's unpaired t-test, paired t-test, chi square test. p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Two hundred and thirty seven patients were included in the present study, in group A: 92 patients (78.6%) showed improvement in their IIEF score after 8 weeks of tadalafil treatment. While in group B, overall 104 patients(86.6%) showed improvement after combination of Tadalafil and Pentoxifylline. There was a statistically significant difference of percentage change in IIEF score was seen in group B (group A 90.7±15.2%, group B 95.6±13.4%; p value - 0.014). We found this difference even more statistically significant in patients with severe ED (group A 72.7±47.2%, group B 132.3±54.3%; p value - 0.000). There was no significant difference in between the two groups with regards to occur-rence of side effects.Both tadalafil and combination of Tadalafil + Pentoxifylline improve erectile function in patients of ED. Patients with severe ED showed much significant improvement in erectile function with combination therapy.