Study on acupuncture and moxibustion therapy for female urethral syndrome

Among 180 patients with female urethral syndrome, 128 were treated by acupuncture and moxibustion and 52 by western medicine as controls. The short-term effective rate in the acupuncture and moxibustion group was 90.6% and the long-term effective rate, 80.4%; whereas the short-term effective rate of the control group was 26.9% (P < 0.01). The maximal uroflow rate increased by an average of 4.6 ml/s, after acupuncture and moxibustion treatment (P < 0.001) and the mean uroflow rate increased by an average of 3.1 ml/s (P < 0.001); on the contrary, no changes were found in the control group (P > 0.05). Sixty-nine cases from the acupuncture and moxibustion group and 39 from the control group were subjected before and after treatment to determinations of the maximal bladder pressure, maximal abdominal pressure, bladder-neck pressure, and maximal urethral closure pressure during urination. All these indexes were decreased remarkably in the acupuncture and moxibustion group, while no changes were observed in the control group.