Electroacupuncture and Pelvic Floor Muscle Training for Male Stress Urinary Incontinence

The Effects of Combination Therapy With Electroacupuncture and Pelvic Floor Muscle Training on Stress Urinary Incontinence Following Radical Prostatectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical study is to compare the effects of combined electroacupuncture with pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) versus PFMT alone in the treatment of involuntary urine leakage following prostate removal procedure due to prostate cancer. The main goal is to determine that whether adding electroacupuncture to PFMT provides extra benefits in relieving urinary leakage and improves patients' quality of life. All participants will be required to perform daily PFMT for 6 weeks using uniformed standards. During the meantime, those assigned to the experimental group will additionally receive electroacupuncture three times per week for 6 weeks, while those in control group will receive sham treatment with same duration. Researchers will compare the urine leakage severity between the two groups to see if adding electroacupuncture can facilitate the recovery of symptom.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stress Urinary Incontinence
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Pelvic floor muscle training; Other: Electroacupuncture; Other: Sham electroacupuncture

Detailed Description

This randomized controlled trial will recruit patients presenting stress urinary incontinence 6 weeks after radical prostatectomy, with the aim to determine whether adding electroacupuncture therapy to pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) provides extra benefits in relieving stress urinary incontinence following radical prostatectomy. Followed by signing the informed consent and baseline assessments, participants with be randomly allocated to either PFMT plus electroacupuncture arm or PFMT plus sham electroacupuncture arm in a 1:1 ratio.

Pelvic floor muscle training will be conducted daily using a consistent approach. In short, before training, the patients are required to empty the bladder and relax the whole body in a sitting or lying position. The contraction of the pelvic floor muscles is maintained for 2-6 seconds, followed by a relaxation for 2-6 seconds. This process is repeated 10 times per session, three sessions per day (in the morning, afternoon and evening), and performed daily for 6 continuous weeks.

Electroacupuncture will be performed at bilateral Zhongliao, Huiyang, Zhongji, Guanyuan and Dahe, three treatment sessions per week for 6 consecutive weeks. For sham electroacupuncture, The same acupoints will be punctured as that in treatment group, except the use of blunt-tipped needles (identical in appearance compared with normal needles) to puncture through the fixed pad and to reach the skin surface. In both groups, the needles will be clamped by electrodes which are connected to a pulse generator (Huatuo SDZ- EA, Suzhou, China). In consistency with our previous settings, continuous wave with frequency of 50Hz will be used. The current intensity is gradually increased ranging from 1mA to 5mA, according to the patient's tolerance.

Patients will be appraised at baseline, 3, 6, 10 and 18 weeks after the initiation of treatments to determine the changes of incontinence symptom, quality of life and pelvic structures. The primary outcome is the change of urine leakage amount during a 1-hour pad test at 6-week timepoint. The secondary outcomes include parameters derived from the International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire - urinary incontinence short form, mean 24-hour pad use, pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (except for those with contraindications, such as metallic implants or psychological disorders), and the documentation of adverse events.

The statistical analysis of the baseline and outcomes at each timepoint is based on the intention-to-treat population. In addition, the data analysis of the primary outcome is also based on the per-protocol population as a supportive analysis. Quantitative variables will be compared using either independent t-tests or Mann-Whitney U-tests based on their normality. The statistical significance between nominal variables will be detected using Pearson's chi-squared tests or Fisher's exact tests. Statistical analysis will be performed using both SPSS software and R package, and the level of significance will be set at <0.05.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Shanghai, China, 200127
    • Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 45 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients present stress urinary incontinence 6 weeks after radical prostatectomy
• Aged between 45-80 years
• With an urine leakage amount over 1g measured by the one-hour pad test
• Participate voluntarily with signed the informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• The existence of stress urinary incontinence symptoms before the surgery
• Urine leakage due to urgency incontinence, voiding dysfunction, nocturnal enuresis and fistula
• Known history of radiation therapy to the pelvic region
• Evidence of tumor recurrence or metastasis
• Those who have already underwent treatment for stress urinary incontinence
• Patients with hemorrhagic disease or hemorrhagic tendency
• The presence of ulcer, abscess and skin infection at locations of target acupoints
• With histories of cardiac pacemaker, intravascular stent and metal allergy
• With poor health conditions due to coexisting of acute comorbidities of the heart, brain, lung and kidney
• Those who refuse to sign the informed consent and unable to comply with the study protocol

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Electroacupuncture plus pelvic floor muscle training; Participants in this arm will receive pelvic floor muscle training using unified standards, and electroacupuncture therapy for 6 weeks.	Behavioral: Pelvic floor muscle training; Participants will receive daily pelvic floor muscle training for 6 consecutive weeks. In specific, they will be instructed to perform 3 training sessions (morning, afternoon and evening) per day with an emptied bladder in a relaxed state. During each session, 10 muscle stretches are required with each contraction duration of 2~6-second and a 2~6-second relaxation following each one.; Other: Electroacupuncture; Participants will also receive electroacupuncture at bilateral Zhongliao (BL33), Huiyang (BL35), Zhongji (CV3), Guanyuan (CV4) and Dahe (KI12). During each therapy session, the electroacupuncture stimulation of acupoints in the abdomen and sacral regions will last for 30 minutes in total (15 minutes for each region) with a continuous wave of 50 Hz and a current intensity of 1 to 5 mA (preferably with the skin around the acupoints shivering mildly without pain). Participants will receive 3 treatment sessions per week (ideally every other day) for 6 consecutive weeks, 18 sessions in total.
Sham Comparator: Sham electroacupuncture plus pelvic floor muscle training; Participants in this arm will receive pelvic floor muscle training using the same approach as that in experimental group, and sham electroacupuncture for 6 weeks.	Behavioral: Pelvic floor muscle training; Participants will receive daily pelvic floor muscle training for 6 consecutive weeks. In specific, they will be instructed to perform 3 training sessions (morning, afternoon and evening) per day with an emptied bladder in a relaxed state. During each session, 10 muscle stretches are required with each contraction duration of 2~6-second and a 2~6-second relaxation following each one.; Other: Sham electroacupuncture; Sham electroacupuncture will be carried out with pragmatic placebo needles on the same acupoints in the experimental group. Procedures, electrode placements, and other treatment settings will also stay the same but with no electrical stimulation output.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The change of urine leakage amount at 6 weeks	The 1-hour pad test will be applied to quantitatively measure the changes of the urine leakage severity. In specific, patients will be asked to wear pre-weighed pads and drink 500 ml of sodium-free liquid in <15 minutes. After rest, they are instructed to exercise for 30 minutes, including: walking, climbing up and down one flight of stairs, standing-up from sitting (10 times), coughing vigorously (10 times), running on the spot for 1 minute, bending to pick up an object from the floor (5 times) and washing hands for 1 minute in running water. Before and after the test, the weight of the pad is measured with a high-precision balance in order to determine the amount of leakage. For this test, an increase of 1 to 10 g represents mild incontinence, 11 to 50 g represents moderate incontinence, and >50 g represents severe incontinence.	measured at baseline and 6 weeks after treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
One-hour pad test at 3, 10, 18 weeks	For the 1-hour pad test, patients will be asked to wear pre-weighed pads and drink 500 ml of sodium-free liquid in <15 minutes. After rest, they are instructed to exercise for 30 minutes, including: walking, climbing up and down one flight of stairs, standing-up from sitting (10 times), coughing vigorously (10 times), running on the spot for 1 minute, bending to pick up an object from the floor (5 times) and washing hands for 1 minute in running water. Before and after the test, the weight of the pad is measured with a high-precision balance in order to determine the amount of leakage. For this test, an increase of 1 to 10 g represents mild incontinence, 11 to 50 g represents moderate incontinence, and >50 g represents severe incontinence.	measured at 3, 10 and 18 weeks after treatment
Urinary incontinence questionnaires	The patient-reported continence status will be evaluated by the International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire - urinary incontinence short form (ICIQ-UI-SF). The total score will be calculated based on three questions, namely the frequency of leakage (scores from 0 to 5 points), the amount of leakage (scores 0, 2, 4 or 6 points) and the impact of leakage (scores from 0 to 10 points).	measured at baseline, 3, 6, 10 and 18 weeks after treatment
Adverse events	Although electroacupuncture is well-known as a minimally invasive therapy which can be carried out in the clinic, the adverse events will be carefully documented by the researchers base on the patients' subjective report.	measured at 3, 6, 10 and 18 weeks after treatment
The status of 24-hour pad use	The 24-hour pad use will be recorded as the average daily pad number in three continuous days	measured at baseline, 6 and 18 weeks after treatment
Pelvic Magnetic resonance imaging	The pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will be performed with a 1.5-T scanner with the patients in a supine position. The imaging protocol included a transversal T1-weighted 2D gradient echo sequence. High-spatial-resolution T2-weighted TSE sequences will be obtained in the axial, coronal and sagittal orientation. Several parameters will be measured, including membranous urethral length (mm), urethral wall thickness (mm), levator ani muscle thickness (mm), obturator internus muscle thickness (mm) etc. Besides, the position of the bladder neck, the shape of the bladder and the presence of a dilated posterior urethra will also be recorded. The MRI can be waived if contraindications are noted, such as metallic implants or psychological disorders.	measured at baseline, 6 and 18 (optional) weeks after treatment
Data of birth	The date of birth will be recorded as year/month/date.	documented at baseline
Height	The height will be measured in meters.	documented at baseline
Weight	The weight will be measured in kilograms.	documented at baseline
Body mass index (BMI)	The BMI is calculated as weight (kg) / height (m^2)	documented at baseline
Comorbidites	The comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes and stroke etc., will be recorded by patient-self report.	documented at baseline
The duration after radical prostatectomy	The duration is calculated as the days between the date of recruitment and the date of radical prostatectomy.	documented at baseline
The TNM tumor staging	The TNM tumor staging is recorded according to the pathology report after radical prostatectomy.	documented at baseline
The radical prostatectomy technique	Whether the neurovasulcar preservation technique and lymph node dissection was performed is achieved according to the surgery record.	documented at baseline
The presence of positive surgical margin	This is recorded according to the pathology report after radical prostatectomy.	documented at baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: RenJi Hospital
• Collaborators: Longhua Hospital
• Investigators: Study Chair: Wei Xue, MD, Department of Urology, Ren Ji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; Study Chair: Yuelai Chen, MD, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Liu Z, Liu Y, Xu H, He L, Chen Y, Fu L, Li N, Lu Y, Su T, Sun J, Wang J, Yue Z, Zhang W, Zhao J, Zhou Z, Wu J, Zhou K, Ai Y, Zhou J, Pang R, Wang Y, Qin Z, Yan S, Li H, Luo L, Liu B. Effect of Electroacupuncture on Urinary Leakage Among Women With Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2017 Jun 27;317(24):2493-2501. doi: 10.1001/jama.2017.7220.
• Ribeiro LH, Prota C, Gomes CM, de Bessa J Jr, Boldarine MP, Dall'Oglio MF, Bruschini H, Srougi M. Long-term effect of early postoperative pelvic floor biofeedback on continence in men undergoing radical prostatectomy: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. J Urol. 2010 Sep;184(3):1034-9. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2010.05.040.
• Su T, Zhou J, Liu Z, Chen Y, Zhang W, Chu H, Luo Q, Lu J, An J, Liu B. The efficacy of electroacupuncture for the treatment of simple female stress urinary incontinence - comparison with pelvic floor muscle training: study protocol for a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2015 Feb 8;16:45. doi: 10.1186/s13063-015-0560-1.
• Geraerts I, Van Poppel H, Devoogdt N, Joniau S, Van Cleynenbreugel B, De Groef A, Van Kampen M. Influence of preoperative and postoperative pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) compared with postoperative PFMT on urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy: a randomized controlled trial. Eur Urol. 2013 Nov;64(5):766-72. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2013.01.013. Epub 2013 Jan 21.
• Tang K, Su T, Fu L, Chen Z, Liu G, Hou W, Ming S, Song Q, Feng S, Liu X, Wang R, Liu B, Chen Y. Effect of Electroacupuncture Added to Pelvic Floor Muscle Training in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Eur Urol Focus. 2023 Mar;9(2):352-360. doi: 10.1016/j.euf.2022.10.005. Epub 2022 Oct 26.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): April 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 19, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 15, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): March 17, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 24, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 21, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Pelvic floor muscle training; Acupuncture; Incontinence; Radical prostatectomy; Men; Pad test; Bladder diary
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urogenital Diseases; Mental Disorders; Male Urogenital Diseases; Urologic Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Urination Disorders; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms; Urological Manifestations; Behavioral Symptoms; Elimination Disorders; Urinary Incontinence; Enuresis; Urinary Incontinence, Stress
• Other Study ID Numbers: ST2023

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The IPD will be made available to other researchers upon reasonable request after the publication of this trial.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The study protocol will be ready to share upon reasonable request after the publication of study.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No