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Results from a five-patient case report suggest that the combined protocol of vardenafil plus sertraline is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for temporary erectile dysfunction during assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

Zi–jiang Chen (Shandong University, Jinan, China) and co-authors say that this protocol “avoids the risks for surgical procedures in most cases and prevents a delay in insemination which may compromise the ART results.”

The researchers identified five patients with unexpected ejaculation failure during IVF treatment who attributed this failure to high stress levels and severe anxiety.

Initially, two patients who could not produce a semen sample 3 hours after taking 50 mg of the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5-I) sildenafil, were given 10 mg of another PDE5-I, vardenafil plus 50 mg sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Both men were able to provide a semen sample 1-2 hours later.

Chen and co-authors then prescribed vardenafil and sertraline for three other patients with temporary ejaculation failure, and got sperm samples without difficulty 2 hours later. As with the other two men, no side effects were noted.

“The results show that vardenafil plus SSRI had a higher success rate than SSRI alone, and was better than lidocaine application or SSRI treatment alone in terms of the International Index of Erectile Function score and premature ejaculation grades,” says the team.

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