[Erectile function of renal failure patients after hemodialysis or kidney transplantation: A comparative study].

OBJECTIVE: To study the changes in the erectile function of the male patients with renal failure after hemodialysis (HD) or kidney transplantation (KT) and explore the causes of these changes. METHODS: From January 2015 to January 2021, 160 male patients with renal failure complaining of ED underwent HD (n = 80) or KT (n = 80) in the General Hospital of Eastern Theater Command. The patients were aged 25－45 (31.7 ± 4.8) years, 32 ± 4.5 years in the HD group and 31.4 ± 5.1 years in the KT group. We recorded the levels of serum T, E2, FSH and LH and the scores on IIEF-5, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) of the patients, and compared them between the two groups. RESULTS: Compared with the patients in the HD group, those in the KT group showed a significantly higher T level (ï¼»7.45 ± 3.54ï¼½ vs ï¼»17.75 ± 7.32ï¼½ nmol/L, P < 0.01) and a lower E2 level (ï¼»151.37 ± 20.89ï¼½ vs ï¼»94.17 ± 40.79ï¼½ pmol/L, P < 0.01), but no statistically significant difference from the former group in the levels of FSH (ï¼»8.12 ± 5.12ï¼½ vs ï¼»8.97 ± 2.36ï¼½ IU/L, P > 0.05) and LH (ï¼»5.16 ± 3.87ï¼½ vs ï¼»4.69 ± 2.18ï¼½ IU/L, P > 0.05). There were fewer cases of severe ED in the KT than in the HD group (3.75% vs 16.25%, P < 0.05). Different degrees of anxiety and depression were observed in both groups, with fewer severe cases of anxiety (6.25% vs 30.00%, P < 0.05) and depression (6.25% vs 31.25%, P < 0.05) and more mild cases of anxiety (68.75% vs 47.50%, P < 0.05) and depression (70.00% vs 48.75%, P < 0.05) in the KT than in the HD group, but no statistically significant difference in the incidence of moderate anxiety (25.00% vs 22.50%, P > 0.05) and depression (23.75% vs 20.00%, P > 0.05) between the KT and HD groups. CONCLUSION: For male patients with renal failure, kidney transplantation can evidently improve erectile function, while hemodialysis has a poorer effect. The altered hormone levels, anxiety and depression of the patients are important causes of the changes in their erectile function.