Effect of Electroacupuncture Added to Pelvic Floor Muscle Training in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Randomized Clinical Trial

The effect of electroacupuncture applied to women with stress urinary incontinence on urinary incontinence severity and symptoms: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

INTRODUCTION

Stress Urinary Incontinence is a condition that impairs the quality of life in women and randomized controlled trials of electroacupuncture for stress urinary incontinence have been conducted.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the effect of electroacupuncture on the severity and symptoms of urinary incontinence in women with stress urinary incontinence.

METHODS

Literature searches were conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and Science Citation Index until November 2023. This study was based on the recommendations of the Cochrane guidelines. Data were analyzed using the Review Manager computer program (Version 5.4). The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the RoB-2 tool.

RESULTS

The analysis included 888 women with stress urinary incontinence and three studies. In women with stress urinary incontinence, electroacupuncture intervention improved urinary incontinence severity and quality of life (MD: -2.37, 95% CI: -3.29 to 1.45, Z = 5.07, p < 0.001), urinary leakage (SMD: -0.79, 95% CI: -1.02 to -0.55, Z = 6.60, p = 0.001) and incontinence episode frequency (SMD: -2.24, 95% CI: -4.17 to -0.32, Z = 2.29, p < 0.02).

CONCLUSION

In women with stress urinary incontinence, electroacupuncture intervention decreased the severity of urinary incontinence and improved the quality of life. Symptoms related to urinary incontinence were found to decrease urinary leakage and incontinence episode frequency. The studies included in the analysis were determined to be low-risk studies in quality assessment.

Acupuncture combined with pelvic floor rehabilitation training for postpartum stress urinary incontinence: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with pelvic floor rehabilitation training in the treatment of postpartum stress urinary incontinence, and to promote the further promotion and application of acupuncture in the field of rehabilitation.

Methods and analysis

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture combined with pelvic floor rehabilitation in the treatment of postpartum stress urinary incontinence will be searched in PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Cochrane Library, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Wanfang (WF), and VIP databases. The clinical trial Registry (ClinicalTrials.gov and Chinese clinical trial Registry) will also be searched. The search period is limited to July 1, 2023, and the language limit of this systematic review is Chinese and English. The primary outcome is clinical effective rate. International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICI-Q-SF), 1-h pad test, pelvic floor muscle potential value, incidence of adverse events are secondary outcomes. A meta-analysis will be performed using RevMan 5.4 statistical software. If feasible, subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis will be performed to address potential causes of inconsistency and heterogeneity. The risk of bias will be assessed using the approach recommended by Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, and the quality of evidence will be assessed using GRADE. This Protocol has been developed in accordance with the guideline of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015.

Discussion

Acupuncture combined with pelvic floor rehabilitation training can effectively promote the rehabilitation of postpartum stress urinary incontinence patients, and provide a reference for the clinical application of integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment in the field of rehabilitation.

Systematic review registration

PROSPERO CRD42023455801.

Optimized electroacupuncture treatment for female stress urinary incontinence: study protocol for a multi-center randomized controlled trial

Background

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common condition that can severely affect women's life quality. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been proved to be an optional treatment for SUI, but the tolerance of EA becomes a factor affecting efficiency, which should not be ignored and needs to be solved urgently. The purpose of this study is to find out whether the use of alternating acupoints combination can solve this problem or not and provide an optimization of EA treatment for female SUI.

Methods

This multi-center randomized controlled trial will enroll 360 patients with SUI. They will be randomly assigned to one of the three groups-sacral acupoints group (sacral group), abdominal acupoints group (abdominal group), or alternating acupoints group (alternating group)-at a 1:1:1 ratio. The patients will receive 18 sessions of EA treatment and will be followed up for 48 weeks after the treatment. The primary outcome measure of the study is the change of urine leakage at week 6. The secondary outcomes include the incontinence episode frequency (IEF), International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF), severity of SUI, patient self-evaluation of therapeutic effects, weekly usage of urine pads, ultrasonography of pelvic floor, specialty therapies for SUI, evaluation of discomfort during EA treatment, patient acceptability evaluation and adverse events related to intervention.

Discussion

This trial is specifically designed to offer an optimized EA treatment for female SUI, aiming to enhance their quality of life.Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier ID:NCT05635669.

Application of fMRI techniques in the study of acupuncture for gynecological diseases: A review

Acupuncture therapy, as a characteristic of Chinese medical therapy, has a long history and remarkable effect in the treatment of gynecological diseases, and so far, it has formed a complete treatment system, but its efficacy and mechanism of action remain unclear. Functional magnetic resonance imaging, a visual technique, provides an objective basis for the study of acupuncture in the treatment of gynecological diseases. This paper summarizes the current status of acupuncture in the treatment of gynecological diseases and summarizes the progress of functional magnetic resonance imaging research related to acupuncture in the treatment of gynecological diseases in the past 10 years, mainly including the common types of gynecological diseases in acupuncture clinics, and the commonly used acupuncture points. This study is expected to provide literature support for subsequent research on the central mechanisms of acupuncture in the treatment of gynecological diseases.