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Review
. 2020 Mar 9:2020:5921038.
doi: 10.1155/2020/5921038. eCollection 2020.

Is Acupuncture Another Good Choice for Physicians in the Treatment of Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome? Review of the Latest Literature

Junjun Li  1 , Liang Dong  2 , Xuhong Yan  1 , Xiaozhang Liu  2 , Ying Li  2 , Xujun Yu  1   2 , Degui Chang  1
Affiliations
Review

Is Acupuncture Another Good Choice for Physicians in the Treatment of Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome? Review of the Latest Literature

Junjun Li et al. Pain Res Manag. .

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). A search of PUBMED, EMBASE, Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Web of Science, Chinese Biomedicine Literature (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wang-Fang Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), and other available resources was made for studies (up to February 2019). Searches were limited to studies published in English and Chinese. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to the efficacy and/or safety of acupuncture for CP/CPPS were included. Two investigators independently evaluated the quality of the studies. A total of 11 studies were included, involving 748 participants. The results revealed that compared with sham acupuncture (MD: -6.53 [95% CI: -8.08 to -4.97]) and medication (MD: -4.72 [95% CI: -7.87 to -1.56]), acupuncture could lower total NIH-CPSI score more effectively. However, there are no significant differences between acupuncture and sham acupuncture in terms of IPSS score. In terms of NIH-CPSI voiding domain subscore, no significant differences were found between acupuncture and medication. Compared with sham acupuncture (OR: 0.12 [95% CI: 0.04 to 0.40) and medication (OR: 3.71 [95% CI: 1.83 to 7.55]), the results showed favorable effects of acupuncture in improving the response rate. Acupuncture plus medication is better than the same medication in improving NIH-CPSI total score and NIH-CPSI pain domain subscore. In conclusion, the evidence suggests that acupuncture may be an effective intervention for patients with CP/CPPS. However, due to the heterogeneity of the methods and high risk of bias, we cannot draw definitive conclusions about the entity of the acupuncture's effect on alleviating the symptoms of CP/CPPS. The adverse events of acupuncture are mild and rare.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart for the selection of trials.
Figure 2
Figure 2
ROB for included trials.+, low risk of bias; ?, unclear; −, high risk of bias.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI total score (acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI pain domain subscore (acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI pain domain subscores after eliminating Zhao 2014 (acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI voiding domain subscore (acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI quality of life domain subscore (acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI quality of life domain subscore. After eliminating Lee, 2008 (acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Forest plot of comparisons of IPSS (acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture).
Figure 10
Figure 10
Forest plot of comparisons of response rate (acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture).
Figure 11
Figure 11
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI total score (acupuncture vs. medication).
Figure 12
Figure 12
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI pain domain subscore (acupuncture vs. medication).
Figure 13
Figure 13
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI voiding domain subscore (acupuncture vs. medication).
Figure 14
Figure 14
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI quality of life domain subscore (acupuncture vs. medication).
Figure 15
Figure 15
Forest plot of comparisons of response rate (acupuncture vs. medication).
Figure 16
Figure 16
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI total score (acupuncture plus medication vs. medication).
Figure 17
Figure 17
Forest plot of comparisons of NIH-CPSI pain domain subscore (acupuncture plus medication vs. medication).
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