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Acupuncture in the prophylaxis of recurrent lower urinary tract infection in adult women.
Scand J Prim Health Care. 1998 Mar;16(1):37-9. PMID: 9612877
Bryggen Medisinske Senter, University of Bergen, Norway.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of acupuncture in the prevention of recurrent lower urinary tract infection (UTI) in adult women.
DESIGN: A controlled clinical trial with three arms: an acupuncture group, a sham-acupuncture group, and an untreated control group. Patients were followed for 6 months.
SETTING: An acupuncture clinic in Bergen, Norway.
SUBJECTS: Sixty-seven adult women with a history of recurrent lower UTI.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Acute lower UTIs during the 6-month observation period.
RESULTS: Eighty-five percent were free of lower UTI during the 6-month observation period in the acupuncture group, compared with 58% in the sham group (p<0.05), and 36% in the control group (p<0.01). There were half as many episodes of lower UTI per person-half-year in the acupuncture group as in the sham group, and a third as many as in the control group (p<0.05).
CONCLUSION: Acupuncture seems a worthwhile alternative in the prevention of recurring lower UTI in women.
