[Fire needle therapy combined with bladder function training for neurogenic bladder caused by spinal cord injury: a...

To observe the clinical effect and safety of fire needle therapy combined with bladder function training on neurogenic bladder (NB) caused by spinal cord injury.

A total of 60 patients with NB caused by spinal cord injury were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group , with 30 cases in each group. On the basis of conventional treatment with western medicine, the bladder function training was adopted in the control group, once a day and for 4 weeks. In the observation group, on the basis of the interventions as the control group, fire needling was operated at bilateral Sanyinjiao (SP 6) and Guanyuan (CV 4) and Zhongji (CV 3), once every two days and for 4 weeks (14 interventions in total). Separately, at the baseline and in 2 and 4 weeks of interventions, the urination conditions (average daily urination frequency, average daily leakage frequency, average daily single urination volume) were recorded in the two groups; the urodynamic parameters (maximum flow rate [Qmax], maximum detrusor pressure at maximum flow rate [PdetQmax], residual urine volume [RUA], maximum cystometric capacity [MCC], and bladder pressure) were detected; the neurogenic bladder symptom score (NBSS), urinary symptom distress score (USDS) were observed. Before and after treatment, the score of World Health Organization quality of life assessment scale-brief (WHOQOL-BREF) was observed in the two groups. The therapeutic effect, the incidence of urinary infection, and the safety were evaluated.

In 2 and 4 weeks of interventions, the average daily urination frequency, the average daily leakage frequency, RUA, and the scores of NBSS and USDS decreased in the two groups when compared with the baseline (P<0.05). In 4 weeks of interventions, the above-mention outcomes were lower than those in 2 weeks of interventions (P<0.05); and the results in the observation group were lower in 2 and 4 weeks of interventions when compared with the control group (P<0.05). In 2 and 4 weeks of interventions, the average daily single urination volume, Qmax, PdetQmax, MCC, and bladder pressure increased in the two groups compared with the baseline (P<0.05). In 4 weeks of interventions, the above-mention outcomes were elevated in comparison with those in 2 weeks of interventions (P<0.05); and except for bladder pressure, the results in the observation group in 2 and 4 weeks of interventions were higher when compared with the control group (P<0.05). In 4 weeks of interventions, the scores of each dimension and the total scores of WHOQOL-BREF increased in comparison with the baseline in the two groups (P<0.05), and the scores of the observation group were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). The incidence of urinary infection was 0% (0/30) in the observation group and 10.0% (3/30) in the control group, without significant difference (P>0.05). The total effective rate of the observation group was 93.3% (28/30), which was higher than that (73.3%, 22/30) of the control group (P<0.05). No serious adverse reactions occurred in the patients of the observation group.

Fire needle therapy combined with bladder function training can effectively relieve the clinical symptoms, ameliorate urination, restore bladder function and improve the quality of life in the patients with NB caused by spinal cord injury. This therapeutic regimen presents a high safety in practice.