Electroacupuncture Accelerates Postprostatectomy Urinary Continence Recovery

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Electroacupuncture significantly accelerates postprostatectomy urinary continence recovery in men undergoing surgery for localized prostate cancer, according to a study published online Sept. 30 in JAMA Network Open.

Jiahui Niu, M.D., from Nanjing University in China, and colleagues assessed whether electroacupuncture improves early urinary continence recovery after radical prostatectomy. The analysis included 110 men with localized prostate cancer who underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy and experienced urinary incontinence (defined as use of at least two pads per day). The men were randomly assigned to electroacupuncture (three times per week for six weeks) or sham stimulation.

The researchers found that at week 6, the intention-to-treat analysis showed that the electroacupuncture group achieved a significantly higher urinary continence rate than the sham stimulation group (43.6 versus 21.8 percent; relative risk, 2.00).

“The findings of this randomized clinical trial show that electroacupuncture significantly accelerated postprostatectomy urinary continence recovery and may serve as a safe adjunct to standard care,” the authors write. “These findings support integrating electroacupuncture into multimodal rehabilitation protocols to reduce early urinary incontinence burden.”

Abstract/Full Text