title: Use of acupuncture as a treatment method for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndromes.
abstract: Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is the most common category of clinical prostatitis. The etiologic factors of CP/CPPS still remain unknown, and standard therapies often fail to achieve sustainable amelioration of symptoms; therefore, various treatment therapies have been approached. Recently, there is increasing evidence that acupuncture could be a safe and effective treatment in managing CP/CPPS. However, acupuncture therapy still is ranked as low-priority treatment, which results from the fact that the studies, mostly reported in nontraditional medical journals, had not employed standard definitions of the condition or validated-outcome parameters, and that the mechanism of acupuncture effects on CP/CPPS remains to be elucidated. In this article, we review the recent clinical research using acupuncture to reveal its clinical utility for CP/CPPS and the possible mechanisms of action. This article could encourage health care providers and urologists to apply acupuncture for managing pains of CP/CPPS with standard treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Integrative Cancer Center, East-West Neo Medical Center, Kyung Hee University, Sangil-dong, Gangdong-Ku, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Hun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Byung-Cheol
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D013577:Syndrome; D016896:Treatment Outcome