effect of topical clove (syzygium aromaticum (l.) merr. & l.m.perry) gel on premature ejaculation: a pilot randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial

Premature ejaculation is one of the most common sexual disorders worldwide without a satisfying treatment. in this study, we investigated the efficacy of a topical formulation of clove oil in premature ejaculation patients. eligible patients were randomly divided into two groups to use either syzygium aromaticum (sa) 1% gel or placebo gel 10 minutes before the intercourse for a period of 8 weeks. outcome measurement were premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (pedt) and international index of erectile function (iief) questionnaires in addition to intravaginal ejaculation latency time (ielt). a total number of 22 (11 patients in each group) participants completed the study. at the end of the intervention, the ielt scores changed from 29.84±18.59 to 97.09±91.86 and 42.51±13.98 to 52.45±32.7 seconds in sa gel and placebo groups, respectively (p-value =0.003). also, the changes of pedt scores in the sa gel group (from 14±3.55 to 9.2±4.56) comparing to that of placebo gel group (from 14.63±3.61 to 13.5±3.78) was significantly different (p-value = 0.001). moreover, results of iief questionnaire revealed significant improvement of “intercourse satisfaction” in sa gel group (p-value = 0.016). no adverse event was observed. it seems that sa gel could be beneficial in the treatment of premature ejaculation; however, it should be further evaluated in larger studies.