Intraurethral Alprostadil (MUSE)
Medicated Urethral System for Erection
Evidence grade 3 of 5, Mixed. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.
The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.
- FDA
- FDA Approved (1996)
Reference only. Not medical advice.
What can go wrong
Penile and urethral pain or burning are common; hypotension and dizziness can occur; rarely priapism. A constriction ring may be needed to improve efficacy. Less reliable than injection therapy.
This is something to take to a clinician. The Atlas can tell you what is known about intraurethral alprostadil (muse) in general. It cannot tell you what is happening in your body, and the difference matters most for exactly the symptoms that bring people to this page.
MUSE (Medicated Urethral System for Erection) delivers alprostadil as a tiny pellet inserted into the urethra via an applicator, absorbed across the urethral mucosa into the corpus spongiosum and cavernosa. It offers a needle-free alternative to injection for men who cannot use or have failed PDE5 inhibitors, though it is generally less effective than intracavernosal injection.
Alprostadil without the needle, a urethral pellet.
What people take it for
These are the reasons people give for taking it. They are not effects it has been shown to have.
How it is supposed to work
Alprostadil (prostaglandin E1) absorbed through the urethral mucosa relaxes cavernosal smooth muscle and dilates penile arteries, producing an arousal-independent erection, the same agent as intracavernosal alprostadil delivered by a less invasive route.
What people get wrong
Often saidThe urethral pellet works as well as injections
ActuallyMUSE is generally less effective than intracavernosal injection, though it spares men the needle.
Who profits, and who pushes back
Nobody is named here yet, because we have not done that work on this entry. Read that as unfinished. Somebody almost certainly sells this, and somebody almost certainly disputes it. Assume both until we have checked.
At a glance
- FDA approval
- 1996
- Route
- Intraurethral pellet
- Agent
- Alprostadil (PGE1)
- vs injection
- Less effective
What this entry does not yet cover
What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about Intraurethral Alprostadil (MUSE). A short entry is not a safe entry.
- Timeline. We have not built the dated record of research and regulatory events.
- Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
- Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
- Who uses it. We have not documented the user groups.
- What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
- How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
- Children and teenagers. We have not checked what is known about younger people.
- Where we land. We have not taken a position on this yet.
Sources
No sources recorded for this entry yet. Nothing on this page can be checked against a citation until that changes, so treat it as a summary awaiting its evidence.