Efficacy of floating needles in the treatment of postpartum Urinary incontinence and pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Abstract Background: Postpartum pain and urinary incontinence are the most common postpartum sequelae, which can lead to postpartum anxiety and depression when severe, and seriously affect the quality of life of postpartum mothers. Floating needle as one of the Chinese medical treatments of the latest in recent years, studies have shown that floating needle for postpartum pain and stress incontinence (UI) has a positive effect, this study aimed to comprehensively and critically evaluate the available evidence on the effectiveness of floating needle in managing postpartum pain and UI, and provide the first evidence-based medical evidence for floating needle intervention for postpartum sequela. Methods: Computer retrieval of Chinese databases: CNKI, Wanfang database, Chongqing VIP Full-text Database, China Biomedical Literature Database, and English database: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, randomized controlled trial of the floating needle in the treatment of postpartum pain and urinary incontinence, search date: March 20, 2022. Keywords: floating needle, urinary incontinence, labor pain, postpartum pain, etc. Search all relevant articles in English and Chinese. Data extraction and quality evaluation were carried out for the literature that met the inclusion criteria, and a meta-analysis was conducted for the included literature data using RevMan5.4 statistical software. Results： A total of 1194 women were included in 8 articles in Both Chinese and English, all of which were conducted in China, 6 of the articles were included in the meta-analysis. The floating needle is more effective in treating postpartum incontinence and pain than the control group[RR=1.33, 95%CI(1.18,1.5), P＜0.00001], and can significantly reduce the IC-IQ-SF score of postpartum incontinence and pain patients [MD=1.56, 95%CI(0.78,2.35), P＜0.0001], floating needle therapy can significantly reduce the amount of urine leakage in postpartum patients[MD=1.79, 95%CI(1.09,2.49), P＜0.00001]. Conclusions： Floating needles significantly reduced postpartum pain and improved stress urinary incontinence, but did not improve pelvic floor muscle strength. Like kegel, we encourage the use of floating needles in clinical practice as one of the routine treatments for postpartum sequelae.