[Effect of electroacupuncture intervention at different phases of post-operation on bladder function in patients...

To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at different time-points after cervical carcinoma surgery on urinary bladder function of uroschesis patients so as to determine the optimum time of acupuncture intervention.

Sixty cervical cancer post-operation patients with catheter due to uroschesis were randomly and equally divided into late treatment group (acupuncture intervention was given from the over 15th day on after surgery) and early treatment group (acupuncture was given from the 7th day to the 14th day after surgery). Bilateral Shangliao (BL 31), Ciliao (BL 32), Zhongliao (BL 33), Xialiao (BL 34), Zhibian (BL 54), Yinlingquan (SP 9) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) were punctured with filiform needles combined with electrical stimulation of bilateral BL 31 and BL 34 for 30 min, once daily for 10 sessions. The residual urine volume was measured before treatment and after 5 and 10 sessions of treatment separately.

After 5 and 10 sessions of treatment, the average residual urine volumes of both late treatment and early treatment groups were decreased significantly ( P< 0.05), and the residual urine volume level of the early treatment group was markedly lower than that of the late treatment group (P < 0.05). After 5 sessions of acupuncture treatment, of the two 30 cases in the late treatment and early treatment groups, 8 and 17 had an automatic micturition, 22 and 13 needed catheter retention, and following 10 sessions of treatment, 22 and 27 had an automatic micturition, and 8 and 3 still needed catheter retention, respectively. Regarding the functional recovery state of the urinary bladder, of the two 30 cases in the late treatment and early treatment groups, 6 and 14 were good, 24 and 16 poor respectively following 5 sessions of treatment; 15 and 22 were good, 15 and 8 were poor respectively following 10 sessions of treatment. The therapeutic effects of the early treatment group were apparently superior to those of the late treatment group. The number of the treatment sessions for recovering the bladder function was obviously fewer in the early treatment group than in the late treatment group (P < 0.05).

Early acupuncture intervention is significantly better than late treatment for reducing residual urine volume and promoting bladder function recovery for uroschesis patients undergoing cervical cancer operation.