Acupuncture versus sham acupuncture for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain.
BACKGROUND
Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) afflicts 2%-10% of adult men. Available therapies offer little or no proven benefit. Because acupuncture represents an attractive "natural" therapy, we compared the efficacy of acupuncture to sham acupuncture for CP/CPPS.


METHODS
Participants met US National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus criteria for CP/CPPS, were aged > or = 20 years old, and had a total score > or = 15 on the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) and symptoms for at least 3 of the preceding 6 months. They were randomized 1:1 to acupuncture or sham acupuncture. Treatment consisted of twice-weekly 30-minute sessions for 10 weeks (20 sessions total) without needle stimulation, herbs, or adjuvants. The primary response criterion was a 6-point decrease from baseline to week 10 in NIH-CPSI total score (range 0-43).


RESULTS
Thirty-two (73%) of 44 participants responded in the acupuncture group compared with 21 (47%) of 45 sham group participants (relative risk 1.81, 95% confidence interval, 1.3-3.1, P = .02). Long-term responses 24 weeks after completing therapy without additional treatment occurred in 14 (32%) of 44 acupuncture group participants and in 6 (13%) of 45 sham group participants (relative risk 2.39, 95% confidence interval, 1.0-5.6, P = .04).


CONCLUSIONS
After 10 weeks of treatment, acupuncture proved almost twice as likely as sham treatment to improve CP/CPPS symptoms. Participants receiving acupuncture were 2.4-fold more likely to experience long-term benefit than were participants receiving sham acupuncture.
Lee
Shaun Wen Huey
SW
School of Pharmaceutical Science, University of Science, Malaysia.
Liong
Men Long
ML
Yuen
Kah Hay
KH
Leong
Wing Seng
WS
Chee
Christopher
C
Cheah
Phaik Yeong
PY
Choong
Weng Pho
WP
Wu
Yue
Y
Khan
Nurzalina
N
Choong
Wooi Long
WL
Yap
Hin Wai
HW
Krieger
John N
JN
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome