Junge Patientin mit Harninkontinenz

Abstract

Background A nine-year-old girl suffered from urinary incontinence eight weeks after she had a severe infection with varicella. During jumping and bending down she lost urine and she complained about burning sensations during micturition. Western medicine did not find any reason for the incontinence and there was no sign of urinary tract infection. Oxybutynin had to be removed due to severe side effects. Objective Elimination of incontinence, improvement of quality of life. Methods Acupuncture with thin needles (0,15 mm) once a week for ten weeks Results Although acupuncture started not before one and a half year after the onset of symptoms, the incontinence improved by about 70 %, meaning a minor urine loss only if the bladder was full during body exercises. The girl's quality of life – at the beginning of treatment graded „poor” – improved to „good”. Concentration also had become better. Discussion In this case of childhood urinary urgency western medicine could not improve the symptoms so acupuncture was a good alternative. Beside the improvement of incontinence acupuncture also benefited quality of life and concentration. The girl had no problem in tolerating the thin needles.