J Auton Nerv Syst. 2000 Mar; 79(2-3): 173-80.

Improvement of urge- and mixed-type incontinence after acupuncture treatment among elderly women - a pilot study.

BergstrÃ¶m K, Carlsson CP, Lindholm C, Widengren R.

Department of Geriatrics, Rosenlund Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

The aim of this study was to investigate if sensory stimulation in the form of manual acupuncture could influence urge- or mixed-type incontinence among elderly women who were not satisfactorily relieved by standard pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments given at a specialised incontinence unit. The study is an open clinical follow-up study. The study included 15 elderly women who were treated with manual acupuncture 12 times. Both subjective scorings and objective measurements in the form of leakage in grams (48 h Inco-test) were used. Evaluations were performed at discharge and 1 and 3 months thereafter. Almost all outcome measurements were significantly improved even at follow-up 3 months after the last treatment. Global scorings showed that 12 of the 15 women considered themselves improved even at the follow-up 3 month after treatments were completed. The possible mechanisms of action are discussed, as is the way to perform more studies in this field.