BACKGROUND: Patients suffering from overactive bladder/detrusor overactivity (OAB/DO) seem to benefit from body acupuncture.
The study was carried out to test if auricular acupuncture (AAP), which is supposed to show an immediate effect, can also cause urodynamic changes.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: The OAB/DO condition was verified by means of cystometry in 14 patients. These patients were subjected to bilateral AAP after cystometry, a second cystometry was performed 20-30 min later and data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test.
RESULTS: None of the patients showed local or systemic complications but DO persisted in all patients and urge urinary incontinence (UUI) persisted in 85 % (11/13) of patients. Intravesical pressure decreased after AAP but without reaching statistical significance. In 22 % (2/9) of patients residual volume (RV) disappeared completely while 78 % (7/9) of patients showed significant reduction of RV.
CONCLUSIONS: This study could not prove a significant influence of AAP on DO or UUI; therefore an immediate effect of AAP in patients suffering from OAB/DO seems to be unlikely. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the effect of repeated AAP sessions on urodynamic changes.
Written by:
Bschleipfer T, Lüdecke G, Durschnabel M, Wagenlehner FM, Weidner W, Pilatz A. Are you the author?
Klinik und Poliklinik für Urologie, Kinderurologie und Andrologie, Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg GmbH, Standort Gießen, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Rudolf-Buchheim-Straße 7, 35385, Gießen, Deutschland.
Reference: Urologe A. 2013 Apr 20. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1007/s00120-013-3189-2
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23604450
Article in German.
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