Meta-analysis of electro-acupuncture in human clinical trials for the treatment of post-stroke urgency urinary incontinence and possible application in canine lower urinary tract dysfunction

Item

Title

Description

Am J Trad Chin Vet Med (2018), Cui Liu;Limin Chao;Zengquan Li;Weijie Lv;Chen Jia;Dayou Shi;Shining Guo

Journal Publication

American Journal of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine

issn

1945-7693

Date

2018

Language

English

Author(s)

Cui Liu

Limin Chao

Zengquan Li

Weijie Lv

Chen Jia

Dayou Shi

Shining Guo

Subject

Electroacupuncture

Stroke

Urinary Incontinence

Neurogenic Bladder

Canine

Meta-analysis

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of electro-acupuncture treatment of post-stroke urgency urinary incontinence in human clinical trials by a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. An online search of randomized controlled clinical trials of electro-acupuncture therapy to treat post-stroke urgency urinary incontinence was conducted. To reduce bias, 2 reviewers conducted independent literature screening and data extraction with a third reviewer negotiating serious differences in literature evaluation from the independent reviewers. Six studies with a total of 335 cases met inclusion criteria for the study. Random effects models were applied for meta-analysis due to the evidence of heterogeneity among the studies included (I2> 50%). Among the three studies investigating effective rate, the combined effect size (weighted average OR) was 3.40 (95% C.I = [1.09, 10.64]; p = 0.04), and on the four trials evaluating urinary incontinence level, the combined effect size was 13.33 (95% C.I = [5.50, 32.33], p < 0.00001). The statistical findings suggest that the experimental group (electro-acupuncture therapy) was significantly more effective in treating post-stroke urgency urinary incontinence when compared with the control group. Dogs are also affected with urinary incontinence as a sequela to neurological injury and as the results of this study suggests, electro-acupuncture may be efficacious in treating neurogenic bladder dysfunction in other species such as dogs. There is a need for further studies, using high quality clinical studies in humans to validate the findings of this meta-analysis and evaluate its application to other species.