Peyronie's disease: a critical appraisal of current diagnosis and treatment.

Peyronie's disease is a fibrotic disorder of the tunica albuginea of the penis resulting in varying degrees of penile curvature and sexual dysfunction. Diagnosis of the disorder is made by detailed sexual history and focused physical examination. A wide range of medical treatments has been employed to treat the disorder. Verapamil treatment administered by intraplaque injection is supported by generally consistent randomized controlled trials (RCT). Some RCT evidence exists to support the use of colchicine, potaba, L-carnitine and liposomal superoxide dismutase. Future studies of medical efficacy should focus on improving RCT design, implementation and results reporting to improve the quality of evidence generated by each study. The surgical treatment of Peyronie's disease is a viable and recommended alternative for men with compromised sexual function due to severe curvature or lesions causing penile instability. The choice of corrective procedure should be tailored to each patient after a detailed evaluation of disease severity and sexual function.