Efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture for urinary retention: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Electroacupuncture (EA) is considered as an effective treatment for urinary retention (UR).

Up to April 7, 2023, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of EA for UR were extensively searched in 8 databases, including Pubmed, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Journal Full-text Database, Wanfang Data, and VIP Full-text e-Journals Database. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) were utilized to evaluate the quality of all included RCTs. Meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 15.0 software.

A total of 23 trials were included, and the meta-analysis results suggested that compared with the control group, EA can effectively treat various types of UR (risk ratio [RR] = 1.22, 95CI%: 1.14, 1.31) and promote bladder function recovery, with a significant reduce in residual urine volume (weighted mean differences [WMD] = -49.60, 95CI%: -64.10, -35.11), an increase in maximum bladder capacity (WMD = 47.00, 95CI%: 12.76, 81.24), a shorten in the first urination time (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -1.42, 95CI%: -2.08, -0.76), and less adverse reactions (RR = 0.21, 95CI%: 0.07, 0.65).

EA has significant advantages in treating UR, but the efficacy and safety are still needed to be further verified through large-sample and high-quality RCTs.