Acupuncture on Post-Stroke Overactive Bladder

The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Overactive Bladder

Treatments: Other: Usual Care; Other: Traditional Acupuncture

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02568774

AcupPSOAB

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study evaluates the effect of acupuncture on post-stroke overactive bladder symptoms. Participants will be put into groups randomly and compared. There are two groups: traditional acupuncture and usual care. The ratio of group allocation is 1:1.

Full description

Current practice in management of OAB is quite limited. Acupuncture, which is a major treatment modality of traditional Chinese medicine, has also claimed to have favourable therapeutic effect on OAB. Previous study found that acupuncture at the BL-33 point was effective for controlling the overactive bladder. Although acupuncture has been shown to be effective in treating OAB, there has been no randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of acupuncture on patients with post-stroke. Given the high incidence of OAB in post-stroke patients, potentially effective alternative treatments should be investigated.

Enrollment: 34 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Chinese aged 18 or above
2. Patient suffering from first ever stroke or recurrent stroke with no urinary symptom in previous episode(s);
3. Patient with classic symptoms, i.e. urgency, urinary frequency or urge incontinence and Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS) score ≥3 and the urgency item rated as at least 2-point;
4. Not taking any medication for OAB
5. Able to communicate
6. No current acupuncture or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation treatment

Exclusion criteria

1. Urinary retention with post-void urinary volume > 100ml;
2. Current urinary tract infection;
3. Preexisting history of OAB or bladder outlet obstruction or underactive bladder;
4. Significant cognitive impairment with MMSE < or =19;
5. Coexisting Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord disorder or progressive neurological disease such as multiple sclerosis;
6. Active skin lesion or open wound over the needle placement areas;
7. Having valvular heart defects, severe cardiac diseases, or bleeding disorders,
8. Being fitted with any implanted electrical device such as pacemaker, defibrillator, or brain stimulation;
9. Pregnant;
10. Malignancies at the sites of selected acupoints;
11. Receiving acupuncture treatment 1 month before baseline.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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34 participants in 2 patient groups

Traditional Acupuncture

Experimental group

Description:

Acupoints which are empirical for treating OAB in terms of Traditional Chinese medicine theory are used (in the sequence of scalp reproduction area and motor area of the unaffected side, RN3, bilateral BL32, BL33, BL28, BL39). And Ear point urinary bladder, and Ear point uterus will be treated after removal of needles. Needles will be left for 30 minutes and then removed. Subjects will be treated with acupuncture 2 times per week for the first 2 weeks and 1 per week for the 3rd and 4th week.

Treatment:

Other: Traditional Acupuncture

Usual Care

Other group

Description:

Patients will receive conventional rehabilitation as usual, including standard physiotherapy, bladder training and general advise of fluid intake.

Treatment:

Other: Usual Care