The Role of Traditional Acupuncture in Patients with Fecal Incontinence—Mini-Review

Abstract

Objective: Fecal incontinence affects up to 15% of the general population, with higher rates of incidence among women and the elderly. Acupuncture is an old practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine that might be used to treat fecal incontinence. The aim of this mini review was to assess the effect of acupuncture for fecal incontinence. Materials and Methods: Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, and CENTRAL electronic databases were searched until August 2020. The following keywords were used: acupuncture, electroacupuncture, moxibustion, fecal incontinence, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, and bowel dysfunction. In addition, references were searched. Five studies (two randomized controlled trials), out of 52,249 predefined publications after an electronic database search, were included into the review. Results: Overall, 143 patients were included. All studies report significant improvements in continence, although they all apply different acupuncture regimens. Randomized controlled trials show significant differences in experimental groups treated with acupuncture in improving continence. Significant improvement in quality of life scores was reported. In addition, improvement in fecal continence remained significantly improved after 18 months of follow-up. Conclusion: Acupuncture is a promising treatment alternative for fecal incontinence. Based on small, low-quality studies, it might be a safe, inexpensive, and efficient method. However, more high-quality studies are needed in order to apply this treatment technique routinely.

Effect of additional acupuncture to pelvic floor exercise on urinary incontinence: A randomized controlled trial

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first RCT with the largest sample size and longest duration of follow‐up, and first to compare the additional effects of acupuncture to PFE with first‐line treatment. We believe women with UI especially due to kidney deficiency would benefit most from the effect of acupuncture, which is a popular treatment option 6–9 . Acupuncture was performed by the same registered TCM practitioner, targeting on the same acupoints, thus minimizing the possible heterogeneity in the quality of acupuncture.…”

“…We believe women with UI especially due to kidney deficiency would benefit most from the effect of acupuncture, which is a popular treatment option. [6][7][8][9] Acupuncture was performed by the same registered TCM practitioner, targeting on the same acupoints, thus minimizing the possible heterogeneity in the quality of acupuncture. This is both a strength yet, possible limitation, as it may not be easily generalizable to other study centers.…”

“…Acupuncture has been widely used in both Asian and Western countries as an alternative or complementary treatment 5–9 . There is growing research showing the role of nervous system dysfunction in UI 10,11 .…”

“…3 Acupuncture has been widely used in both Asian and Western countries as an alternative or complementary treatment. [5][6][7][8][9] There is growing research showing the role of nervous system dysfunction in UI. 10,11 Given the recognition of the modulation effects of acupuncture on the nervous system, 10,11 and the possible mechanism by increasing the urethral closure pressure, 12 acupuncture was used to manage urinary symptoms in traditional chinese medicine (TCM).…”

The Effect of comprehensive rehabilitation on Lithuanian adolescent’s nonspecific low back pain, depending on the duration: Nonrandomized single-arm trial

“…During CR, alternative agents may be used, whose anti-pain and additional effects can be positive, just like reflexotherapy, [39] acupuncture, [40][41][42] stretching, spinal manipulation, [18] art therapy and so on, witch results depends on usage technique and experience. This was not our subject in this study, but more research is needed to assess the potential positive effects of these instruments, especially if we consider the effects of adolescent psycho-emotional lability on pain perception.…”