Abstract
PurposeTo evaluate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), postvoid residual urine (PVR), and maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), and explore the difference between EA at acupoints and non-acupoints in patients with moderate to severe benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH).Subjects and MethodsMen with BPH and IPSS ≥8 were enrolled. Participants were randomly allocated to receive EA at acupoint (treatment group, n = 50) and EA at non-acupoint (control group, n = 50). The primary outcome measure includes the change of IPSS at the 6th week and the secondary outcome measures include changes of PVR and Qmax at the 6th week and change of IPSS at the 18th week.Results100/192 patients were included. At the 6th week, treatment group patients had a 4.51 (p<0.001) and 4.12 (p<0.001) points greater decline in IPSS than the control group in the intention to treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) populations. At the 18th week, a 3.2 points (p = 0.001) greater decline was found in IPSS for the treatment. No significant differences were found between the two groups in Qmax at the 6th week (p = 0.819). No significant difference was observed in PVR (P = 0.35).ConclusionAcupoint EA at BL 33 had better effects on IPSS, but no difference on PVR and Qmax as compared with non-acupoint EA. The results indicate that EA is effective in improving patient's quality of life and acupoint may have better therapeutic effects than non-acupoints in acupuncture treatments of BPH.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01218243.
Highlights
Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is an enlargement of the prostate gland due to progressive hyperplasia of the stromal and glandular cells of the prostate
The results indicate that EA is effective in improving patient’s quality of life and acupoint may have better therapeutic effects than non-acupoints in acupuncture treatments of BPH
Bladder instability, and UTIs; we hypothesize that acupuncture may be effective in the management of BPH. This hypothesis is supported by our previous studies in which we found that acupuncture at BL33 had better effects than terazosin in improving International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), post-void residual urine (PVR), and maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) on patients diagnosed with mild to moderate BPH [14,15]
Summary
Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is an enlargement of the prostate gland due to progressive hyperplasia of the stromal and glandular cells of the prostate. The prevalence of BPH is as high as 40% in men in their fifties and 90% in men in their eighties [1]. BPH is one of the most common causes of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) which include frequent urination, urgent urination, nocturia, urinary stream hesitancy, straining to void, and dribbling [1]. The pathophysiology of BPH is characterized by non-neoplastic histological changes, urine storage and voiding problems increase patients’ risk of urinary tract infection and chronic kidney diseases and adversely affect patients’ quality of life [2,3]. Most of the aforementioned therapies have various degrees of documented effectiveness in the management of BPH, the use of these interventions are limited to specific patient populations or have certain side effects that interfere with patient’s quality of life [5]
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