BACKGROUND: There are multiple approaches to the management of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS); and lately the data suggesting the ability of acupuncture treatment to decrease pain, positively impact quality of life and potentially modulate inflammation has suggested it as a potential therapeutic option for men with CP/CPPS.
We conducted this study to determine whether acupuncture is really an effective therapeutic modality for CP/CPPS in terms of >50% decrease in total National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) score from baseline compared with sham.
METHODS: One hundred patients with CP/CPPS (category III B) in an outpatient urology clinic were randomized to receive acupuncture at either seven acupoints bilaterally or sham points adjacent to these points. NIH-CPSI was completed by each patient before and 6, 8, 16, 24 weeks after the treatment. Mean values of total CPSI score and subscores after the treatment and on follow-up following the treatment were compared.
RESULTS: Of the acupuncture participants, 92% were NIH-CPSI responders (>50% decrease in total NIH-CPSI score from baseline) compared with 48% of sham participants, 8 weeks after the end of the therapy. Both groups experienced significant decrease in CPSI subscores throughout the whole follow-up period; however, the decline remained significantly greater in the active acupuncture group as compared with the sham group.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that the use of acupuncture in treatment of men with CP/CPPS symptoms resulted in a significant decrease in total NIH-CPSI scores.
Written by:
Sahin S, Bicer M, Eren GA, Tas S, Tugcu V, Tasci AI, Cek M. Are you the author?
Department of Urology, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; Department of Physical Treatment and Rehabilitation, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; Department of Anesthesiology, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; Department of Urology, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey.
Reference: Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2015 May 5. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1038/pcan.2015.13
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25939517