Acupuncture for Chronic Urinary Retention due to Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review

This review examines if acupuncture helps people with chronic urinary retention (CUR) caused by spinal cord injury (SCI). CUR means the bladder doesn't empty fully. The review looked at studies comparing acupuncture to other treatments or no treatment. It focused on how acupuncture affected the amount of urine left after going to the bathroom and how well people could urinate on their own. The review found that acupuncture, when added to other treatments, might help reduce the amount of urine left in the bladder and improve the ability to urinate. However, the evidence isn't strong, so more research is needed.

• 1
  Acupuncture plus rehabilitation training was more effective than rehabilitation training alone in decreasing postvoid residual urine volume.
• 2
  A combination of acupuncture and aseptic intermittent catheterization was better than aseptic intermittent catheterization alone in improving response rates.
• 3
  No severe adverse events were reported in the included studies, suggesting acupuncture may be safe for treating CUR caused by SCI.