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

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture associated with pelvic floor muscle training for the control of urinary incontinence following radical prostatectomy. Method: Open-label, parallel randomized clinical trial. The intervention group (n = 33) underwent eight sessions of systemic acupuncture associated with pelvic floor muscle training and the control group (n = 31) performed only pelvic floor muscle training. The outcome variable was urinary incontinence assessed by the Pad Test and Daily Pad Used, before treatment (T0), after four weeks (T1) and after eight weeks of treatment (T2). Data analysis was performed using a longitudinal model of Generalized Estimating Equations, significance level of 0.05. Results: The control group showed greater urinary loss compared to the intervention group at T1 (p = 0.006) and at T2 (p < 0.001). Both groups showed improvement in the level of urinary incontinence over time, but the improvement was greater in the intervention group (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Acupuncture associated with pelvic floor muscle training was effective in reducing urinary incontinence in prostatectomized men. Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials:RBR-3jm5y2

Non‐pharmacological and nonsurgical interventions in male urinary incontinence: A scoping review

“…Based on the crucial principle of 'dialectical therapy' in TCM, the depth of inserting needles was affected by the muscle thickness of the acupoints and the patient's tolerance. The retention time of needle suggested to last 20 min for all studies (Bernardes et al, 2022;Ricci et al, 2004;Yang et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2022) reported the same.…”

Physiotherapy as an Effective Method to Support the Treatment of Male Urinary Incontinence: A Systematic Review

“…Most authors recommended that supervised training should be performed independently at home daily [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 23 , 26 , 29 , 32 , 37 , 42 , 46 ] and that supervised training is much more effective and long-lasting than unsupervised PFMT. In most studies, home PFMT consisted of three sets of 10 [ 37 ], 15 [ 43 ], or 20 PFM contractions in a single session [ 19 ].…”

“…Combining deep abdominal muscle and PFM activation increased the effectiveness of PFMT and reduced UI symptoms [ 28 ]. PFMT could be combined also with acupuncture [ 20 ]. A detailed description of the analyzed studies is presented in Table 2 .…”

“…Van Kampen et al [ 29 ] implemented anal ES in addition to PFMT in patients who could not activate PFM correctly or whose PFM strength was too low [ 29 ]. Bernardes et al [ 20 ] combined PFMT with acupuncture in the treatment of UI after RP, noting that while PFMT alone is beneficial, patients who also used acupuncture had better results after 8 weeks. Pedriali et al [ 42 ] showed that similar therapeutic effects after RP could be obtained both through Pilates training and standard PFMT in combination with ES [ 42 ].…”

“… RoB analysis ( n = 55). Low risk studies: [ 16 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ], some concerns studies: [ 17 , 18 , 34 , 38 , 44 , 54 ], high risk studies [ 62 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , …”