Does the P-Shot work for erectile dysfunction?

In the placebo-controlled randomised trials we could read, platelet-rich plasma did not outperform placebo. A 2023 Journal of Urology trial found no significant difference between PRP and placebo.

Is the P-Shot dangerous?

The 2023 trial reported no major adverse events and one minor one. The concern raised by the evidence is about whether it works, not primarily about safety.

Is there any positive trial?

A 2021 paper in the Journal of Sexual Medicine is titled as showing PRP improves erectile function. We have not been able to read its full results, so we flag it as an outlier pointing the other way.

The P-Shot: what the placebo-controlled trials found

Last reviewed 2026-Aug-21 · 7 min read

The P-Shot is a platelet-rich plasma injection marketed for erectile dysfunction. Platelet-rich plasma, usually shortened to PRP, is made by drawing your own blood, spinning it to concentrate the platelets, and injecting that concentrate.

It has been tested against placebo in randomised controlled trials. In the trials we could read, it did not outperform placebo.

That is an uncomfortable finding for a widely sold procedure, and it is the most important thing on this page, so it goes first.

What the trials reported

Journal of Urology, 2023. A prospective, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 61 men with mild to moderate ED. Participants received two injections of PRP or placebo, a month apart.

The primary outcome was the percentage of men reaching a minimum clinically important difference one month after the second injection. PRP 58.3 percent, placebo 53.6 percent, P = 0.730. No significant difference.

On the International Index of Erectile Function score, the PRP group moved from 17.4 to 21, and the placebo group moved from 18.6 to 21.6. Both groups improved. Neither improved more than the other (P = 0.756).

Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2024. A prospective, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 52 men, three sessions at two-week intervals, PRP against saline. No statistically significant differences between the groups at one, three or six months.

International Journal of Urology Research, 2024. A randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 120 patients with mild to moderate ED. No statistically significant difference in IIEF within the treatment group over time, and no significant difference between the groups at one, three or six months.

The honest caveats, because they matter

One trial with a positive title exists and we have not been able to read its results. A 2021 paper in the Journal of Sexual Medicine is titled "Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Improves Erectile Function: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial," and it is more cited than any of the three above. We could not retrieve its full findings, so we are telling you it exists and that it points the other way. We will update this page when we have read it, and date the change.

The trials are small. Sixty-one, fifty-two and one hundred and twenty participants. Small trials can miss real effects.

Both arms improved in the 2023 trial. That is what a placebo effect looks like in a condition with a large psychological component, and it is exactly why placebo-controlled trials matter here. If you had the procedure and felt better, that experience was real. What the trials question is whether the PRP caused it.

Safety looked acceptable. The 2023 trial reported no major adverse events and one minor one. The concern raised by this evidence is about whether it works, not primarily about whether it is dangerous.

Why you will not hear this from a clinic

We do not sell the P-Shot and we have no partner who does, which makes this an easy page for us to write and a hard one for a clinic offering it at several hundred to a few thousand dollars a session.

That is not an accusation against any particular provider. It is a structural point: the people best placed to tell you about the placebo-controlled evidence are the people with the least reason to.

What "regenerative" means here, and what it does not

PRP for ED is usually described as a regenerative therapy, the idea being that growth factors in concentrated platelets promote tissue repair and improve blood flow.

That is a plausible mechanism. A plausible mechanism is not evidence of benefit, and the randomised trials are where a mechanism gets tested. On the current published record, it has been tested and has not separated from placebo in the trials we could read.

Questions worth asking before you pay

Which randomised placebo-controlled trials support this, and can I see them?
What is the total cost, and how many sessions are recommended?
What happens if it does not work, and is any part refundable?
Is this offered alongside treatments with stronger evidence, or instead of them?
Who is performing the injection, and what is their training?

What has stronger evidence

We are not telling you what to do, and none of this is medical advice. But if you are weighing options, it is worth knowing that oral medicines, intracavernosal injection therapy and vacuum erection devices all have a substantially longer and larger evidence base than PRP. We cover injections and vacuum devices separately.

And one thing genuinely worth raising with a clinician: erectile dysfunction is an independent predictor of future cardiovascular events. A 2018 analysis in Circulation from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis found exactly that. ED can be an early signal of a vascular problem, and a procedure aimed at the symptom does not address that.

What to ask

Can you show me the placebo-controlled evidence for this specific treatment?
Have I been evaluated for underlying vascular or hormonal causes?
What would you recommend if cost were not a factor?
What are the options with the strongest evidence for someone in my situation?

Sources

Platelet Rich Plasma for the Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Journal of Urology, 2023. doi:10.1097/JU.0000000000003481
Safety and Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection for the Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction: A Randomized Prospective Study. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2024. doi:10.1093/jsxmed/qdae002.014
Platelet rich plasma: new therapy for erectile dysfunction. International Journal of Urology Research, 2024. doi:10.33545/26646617.2024.v6.i1a.27
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Improves Erectile Function: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2021. doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.03.008 (cited here as an outlier we have not been able to read in full)
Erectile Dysfunction as an Independent Predictor of Future Cardiovascular Events: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Circulation, 2018. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.033990

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Keep reading

Injection therapy that does have a long evidence base, at /guides/ed-injections.

What trimix is, and what compounded means for it, at /guides/trimix.