by Lori Solomon

Electroacupuncture significantly accelerates postprostatectomy urinary continence recovery in men undergoing surgery for localized prostate cancer, according to a studypublishedonline Sept. 30 inJAMA Network Open.

Jiahui Niu, M.D., from Nanjing University in China, and colleagues assessed whether electroacupuncture improves early urinary continence recovery afterradical prostatectomy. The analysis included 110 men with localizedprostate cancerwho underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy and experiencedurinary 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%; 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."

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More information: Jiahui Niu et al, Electroacupuncture in Patients With Early Urinary Incontinence After Radical Prostatectomy, JAMA Network Open (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.34491 Journal information: JAMA Network Open