SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurorehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1573090
This article is part of the Research TopicNeurorehabilitative and regenerative methods involved in treating traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries: Volume IIView all 8 articles
Clinical Efficacy of Electroacupuncture for Urinary Incontinence following Spinal Cord Injury: A Meta-analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Institute, Yinchuan, China
- 2General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Purpose: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a prevalent clinical manifestation in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients, occurring in approximately 70% of these individuals. This systematic review aims to comprehensively evaluate the research evidence on electroacupuncture (EA) for UI after SCI, assess its clinical efficacy and safety, and provide a reference for clinical practice. Method: Eight databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from inception to May 20th, 2025. RCTs comparing EA (with or without conventional rehabilitation, CR) to CR alone for managing UI after SCI were included. Data were analyzed using R version 3.6.3. In accordance with PRISMA-2020 guidelines, two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. The certainty of the evidence was graded using the GRADE according to GRADE handbook. Results: A total of fifteen studies were included, comprising 1394 patients with UI after SCI. The meta-analysis indicated that, compared to the CR group, the EA group showed a significant improvement in 24h incontinence frequency (MD = -1.42, 95% CI [-1.88, -0.96], P < 0.01), maximum urine output in 24h (MD =18.98, 95% CI [9.27, 28.69], P < 0.01), and single urination volume in 24h (MD = 30.76, 95% CI [21.45, 40.08], P < 0.01). Regarding the Urodynamic outcome indices, the EA group displayed significant improvement in residual urine 2 volume (MD =-20.06, 95% CI [-28.73, -11.38], P < 0.01), bladder volume (MD = 38.86, 95% CI [19.98, 57.75], P < 0.01), maximum urine flow rate (Qmax) (MD = 2.68, 95% CI [1.66, 3.70], P < 0.01), detrusor pressure (PdetQmax) (MD = -6.77, 95% CI [-9.54, -4.00], P < 0.01), and bladder compliance (BC) (MD = 1.41, 95% CI [0.88, 1.93], P < 0.01). Trial Sequential Analysis (TSA) confirmed the superior treatment outcomes of EA compared to CR. The reported adverse events related to acupuncture were minimal and less severe. Conclusion: EA exhibits considerable potential to enhance self-control of bladder function in patients with UI following SCI. However, this study has certain limitations, and higher quality randomized controlled trials are necessary to confirm these findings.
Keywords: Electroacupuncture, spinal cord injury, Urinary Incontinence, Meta-analysis, Trial sequential analysis
Received: 08 Feb 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Xu, Ye, Meng and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Feng Wang, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.