Renal Transplantation Improves Erectile Function in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Nikolaos Pyrgidis, Ioannis Mykoniatis, Ioannis Sokolakis, Ioanna Minopoulou, Meletios P. Nigdelis, Petros Sountoulides, Paolo Verze, Georgios Hatzichristodoulou, Dimitrios Hatzichristou
Abstract
PURPOSE: Erectile dysfunction has a lower prevalence in renal transplant recipients compared to dialysis patients. Despite this observation, the effect of renal transplantation on erectile function remains unknown. We aimed to assess the role of renal transplantation on erectile function and to determine potential factors improving or deteriorating erectile dysfunction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and random effects meta-analysis of observational studies comparing erectile function preoperatively and postoperatively in renal transplant recipients (PROSPERO ID: CRD42020189580). Records reporting relevant outcomes were identified through search of PubMed®, Embase®, Cochrane Library and Scopus® databases from inception to September 2020. Judgment of the strength of evidence was performed with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. RESULTS: =33%). For all outcomes the strength of evidence was considered low or very low due to methodological concerns and high heterogeneity among the included studies. CONCLUSIONS: Renal transplantation improves erectile function and the risk of erectile dysfunction reduces postoperatively compared to preoperatively. However, evidence on the matter is mostly based on low quality data. More studies with standardized outcomes are needed to validate and strengthen our findings.