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Background: Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a disease that affects the quality of life by causing lower urinary tract symptoms in men. Electroacupuncture and moxibustion therapy have been suggested as an adjunct therapy for improving lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, but clinical studies evaluating the effectiveness of electroacupuncture and its cotreatment with electronic moxibustion in patients who have been prescribed alpha blockers have yet to be reported. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture and electronic moxibustion.
Methods: Twenty-eight patients diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia were randomized to treatment group (TG, n = 14) or control group (CG, n = 14). The TG continued to use the previously prescribed alpha blocker and received the cotreatment of electroacupuncture and electronic moxibustion 3 times a week for 6 weeks. The CG continued to use the previously prescribed alpha blocker alone for 6 weeks. The primary outcome was the mean change in the international prostate symptom score (IPSS) from baseline to week 6. The secondary outcomes were IPSS at week 3 and 12, clinical relevance, IPSS life satisfaction, EuroQol-Five dimensions, average urinary flow rate, maximum urinary flow rate, and prostate volume.
Results: The IPSS decreased at all time points with a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (3W: P = .0313; 6W: P = .0010; 12W: P = .0304). Based on the minimal clinically important difference (MCID, 3 points), there were significant differences between the TG and the CG at week 3, 6, and 12 (3W: P = .0461; 6W: P = .0123; 12W: P = .0216). Significant group × week interaction effects were found for the IPSS score (P = .0018), as determined from analyses using repeated measures analysis of variance. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in IPSS life satisfaction, EuroQol-Five dimensions, average urinary flow rate, maximum urinary flow rate, and prostate volume.
Conclusion: electroacupuncture and its cotreatment with electronic moxibustion might have a beneficial effect as an adjunct therapy in improving lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Reference: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36086755/