title: Efficacy of Acupuncture in Children with Nocturnal Enuresis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
abstract: Background. Nocturnal enuresis (NE) is recognized as a widespread health problem in young children and adolescents. Clinical researches about acupuncture therapy for nocturnal enuresis are increasing, while systematic reviews assessing the efficacy of acupuncture therapy are still lacking. Objective. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture therapy for nocturnal enuresis. Materials and Methods. A comprehensive literature search of 8 databases was performed up to June 2014; randomized controlled trials which compared acupuncture therapy and placebo treatment or pharmacological therapy were identified. A meta-analysis was conducted. Results. This review included 21 RCTs and a total of 1590 subjects. The overall methodological qualities were low. The results of meta-analysis showed that acupuncture therapy was more effective for clinical efficacy when compared with placebo or pharmacological treatment. Adverse events associated with acupuncture therapy were not documented. Conclusion. Based on the findings of this study, we cautiously suggest that acupuncture therapy could improve the clinical efficacy. However, the beneficial effect of acupuncture might be overstated due to low methodological qualities. Rigorous high quality RCTs are urgently needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Tao
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Cai-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Cui
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Ji-Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li