Impacts of medical treatments for lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive to benign prostatic hyperplasia on male sexual functions

Although alpha blockers with or without 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) have become the standard of treatment for men with moderate to severe lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive to benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH), their negative adverse effects on male sexual functions have become another major issue, which may have a direct impact on patients' quality of life and overall satisfaction. Erectile dysfunction, ejaculation disorders, reduced libido, or anorgasmia have been noted among patients receiving these standards of treatments and these adverse events may be irreversible even after discontinuation of medications. Physicians should inform and discuss with their patients about these potential side effects before prescribing these medications for their LUTS/BPH treatment. Tadalafil is the first phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor which has the indications for LUTS/BPH and erectile dysfunction and its efficacy is comparable to alpha-blockers with regards to the reduction of LUTS and improvement of quality of life. Moreover, early clinical studies have showed that the combination use tadalafil with alpha blockers or 5-ARIs may have an additional benefit on symptom relief and maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) improvement. As expected, the improvement on erectile function is significant, especially among patients taking 5-ARIs regularly. Although there are promising data from the combination use of tadalafil with 5-ARIs or tadalafil with alpha-blockers, more large-scale clinical studies are still needed to confirm their long term safety and efficacy profiles.