Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 22;18(4):2112. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18042112.
Fecal incontinence affects up to 15% of the general population, with higher rates of incidence among women and the elderly. Acupuncture is an old practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine that might be used to treat fecal incontinence. The aim of this mini review was to assess the effect of acupuncture for fecal incontinence.
Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, and CENTRAL electronic databases were searched until August 2020. The following keywords were used: acupuncture, electroacupuncture, moxibustion, fecal incontinence, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, and bowel dysfunction. In addition, references were searched. Five studies (two randomized controlled trials), out of 52,249 predefined publications after an electronic database search, were included into the review.
Overall, 143 patients were included. All studies report significant improvements in continence, although they all apply different acupuncture regimens. Randomized controlled trials show significant differences in experimental groups treated with acupuncture in improving continence. Significant improvement in quality of life scores was reported. In addition, improvement in fecal continence remained significantly improved after 18 months of follow-up.
Acupuncture is a promising treatment alternative for fecal incontinence. Based on small, low-quality studies, it might be a safe, inexpensive, and efficient method. However, more high-quality studies are needed in order to apply this treatment technique routinely.
粪便失禁影响高达 15%的普通人群，女性和老年人的发病率更高。针灸是一种古老的中医实践，可能用于治疗粪便失禁。本综述的目的是评估针灸治疗粪便失禁的效果。
Cochrane 图书馆、Web of Science、Embase、PubMed 和 CENTRAL 电子数据库搜索截至 2020 年 8 月。使用了以下关键词：针灸、电针、艾灸、粪便失禁、腹泻、肠易激综合征和肠功能障碍。此外，还搜索了参考文献。经过电子数据库搜索后，从 52249 篇预定义出版物中，有 5 项研究（2 项随机对照试验）被纳入综述。
共有 143 名患者纳入研究。所有研究均报告了对失禁的显著改善，尽管它们都采用了不同的针灸方案。随机对照试验显示，接受针灸治疗的实验组在改善失禁方面有显著差异。报告了生活质量评分的显著改善。此外，在 18 个月的随访后，粪便失禁的改善仍保持显著。
针灸是粪便失禁的一种有前途的治疗选择。基于小样本、低质量的研究，它可能是一种安全、廉价、有效的方法。然而，需要更多高质量的研究来常规应用这种治疗技术。
