Sildenafil in women with sexual arousal disorder following spinal cord injury

Study design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, flexible-dose study. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of oral sildenafil in women with female sexual arousal disorder as a result of SCI (paraplegia/tetraplegia). Setting: The study was conducted at clinical practice sites in North America (n=23), 11 European countries (n=23), Australia (n=4) and South Africa (n=2). Methods: 129 women were randomized and treated with sildenafil or matching placebo. A 4-week baseline period was followed by 12 weeks of treatment, which could be increased from 50 to 100 mg or decreased to 25 mg once during the treatment period, depending on efficacy and tolerability. By use of an event log, sexual activity was monitored between screening and the end of treatment. The Sexual Function Questionnaire, the Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire-Female, a global efficacy question and Sexual Distress Question were also assessed. Results: Sildenafil-treated women and placebo-treated women had an increase in their percentage of sexual activities throughout the course of the study, with no statistically significant difference between groups in the percentage of successful sexual activities at end of treatment versus baseline. There were also no statistically significant differences between sildenafil-and placebo-treated women on the aforementioned measures. The most common adverse events included headache and vasodilatation. Conclusion: The results of this study are similar to other reports regarding a lack of clinically meaningful benefit of sildenafil in other populations of women.