Opinion
Video
Dr. Ghayda on navigating patient conversations on regenerative therapies for ED
Author(s):
"I'm very transparent with my patients by telling them these exist. I don't provide them because we don't have enough level of evidence or body of research supporting them," says Ramy Abou Ghayda, MD, MPH, MBA.
In this interview, Ramy Abou Ghayda, MD, MPH, MBA, discusses how he approaches patient conversations surrounding the use of regenerative therapies for erectile dysfunction. Ghayda is an assistant professor of urology at Case Western Reserve University and the associate program director of the residency program at UH Urology Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.
Video Transcript:
We do have a lot of patients asking about this. A good practice is where you follow guidelines and FDA approvals. A lot of these regenerative therapy like PRP, lithotripsy, or stem cells are not FDA approved yet. We have a few studies with a very limited sample size, 10-15 patients per study, and we don't have great data about the safety of these products. It's a very commercial thing to do. At UH, and in general, big institutions would just follow the guidelines, the AUA guidelines. I'm very transparent with my patients by telling them these exist. I don't provide them because we don't have enough level of evidence or body of research supporting them. But if you want to try them, make sure that you're going to a safe place that's not commercial, that have good urologists trained in this specific area. Some patients would do that. Some patients would go around, go online, find places. My experience has been mixed. The results are just mixed. We try to provide them with everything we can that's evidence-based, guideline-based, but it's up to them to choose. Our role is just to have a frank and transparent conversation with them, educate them about the risks and benefits of using these regenerative therapies, and then they have to do their informed choices.
This transcription has been edited for clarity.
