Acupuncture is effective for chronic prostatitis symptoms

Référence

Sun Y, Liu Y, Liu B, et al. Efficacy of acupuncture for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med 2021;174:1357-1366.

Sommaire

These researchers enrolled 440 men, average age 35 years, with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome for at least 3 of the previous 6 months without evidence of infection. The average score on the Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index was 31 (of a possible 43). The men were enrolled, using concealed allocation, to receive acupuncture at 4 bilateral sites with manipulation or sham acupuncture at nonacupoints. Both groups received twenty 30-minute sessions over 2 months, 3 sessions a week for the first month and 2 sessions a week for the subsequent month. At the end of the 2 months, 60.6% of acupuncture-treated patients and 36.8% of sham acupuncture patients (P < .001) had a clinically important reduction in symptoms (at least 6 points). At 6 months after the start of the study (4 months after stopping treatment), response rates were similar: 61.5% vs 38.3% (P < .001). Expectations of benefit, an important aspect of any intervention, were similar among patients.