Effectiveness of acupuncture for nocturia

Abstract

Background: Nocturia is a common and highly troubled lower urinary tract symptom, which has a wide range of effects. About 33% of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms have been affected by nocturia. Nocturia is mainly manifested as the increase of urination frequency and urine volume at night. It has been proved that acupuncture can reduce the symptoms of nocturia and regulate bladder function in Western countries. Acupuncture may be a promising choice for the treatment of nocturia. Methods: RCTs of acupuncture for nocturia will be searched in the relevant database, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database. The studies of electronic searches will be exported to EndNote V.9.1 software. We will run meta-analyses using the Review Manager (RevMan) V.5.3 software. Any disagreement will be solved in consultation with a third reviewer. Results: Our study aims to explore the efficacy of acupuncture for nocturia and to provide up-to-date evidence for clinical of nocturia. Conclusion: The conclusion of this study will provide evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture treatment of nocturia. INPLASY registration number: INPLASY202130100.

Effectiveness of systemic acupuncture in the control of urinary incontinence following radical prostatectomy: a randomized clinical trial

“…In this context, points BL32 and BL33 are often used to treat UI. They are located on the second and third sacral nerve roots, respectively ( 13 , 14 ) . The frequent use of these points occurs because deep stimulation induces the transmission of neurons to the spinal cord, which is then transmitted to the brain to adjust and provide effective urination ( 13 , 14 ) .…”

“…It should be noted that there are physiological similarities between PFMT and acupuncture, and there are suggestions that acupuncture can be considered an artificial method of muscle training ( 13 , 15 ) . It is believed that when stimulating the pelvic floor there is an increase in the maximum pressure of urethral closure, and when using lumbosacral acupoints there is a stimulus consistent with muscle contraction and that simulates the PFMT ( 15 ) .…”

“…Acupuncture is a type of nerve stimulation technology using needles. In the context of UI and clinical practice, it can produce posterior tibial stimulation and sacral nerve balance, to play a therapeutic role that favors continence ( 12 , 13 ) . According to TCM, UI is associated with deficiency of Qi and Yang of the Spleen-Pancreas and Kidneys, and consequent humidity that compromises urethral opening and closing ( 14 ) .…”

“…It is observed that acupuncture can be used alone or associated with other TCM or conventional therapeutic procedures ( 13 ) . However, no studies with a robust methodology were found associating such interventions with PFMT for the treatment of PRPUI.…”

“…Clinical studies used acupuncture to treat UI and identified a beneficial clinical effect in improving continence ( 5 , 9 , 13 ) after at least three weeks with peak improvement at six weeks ( 8 , 9 , 12 , 16 ) . However, no study was identified to verify the effectiveness of an acupuncture program with acupoint protocol associated with PFMT for the treatment of PRPUI.…”