Moxibustion significantly improved outcomes including symptom relief and time to first urination, over usual care, for patients experiencing postoperative urinary retention after anorectal surgeries.
This research involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of multiple databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CNKI, VIP information, and Wanfang, up to October 1, 2021. The keywords "urinary retention", "moxibustion", and "moxa" were used in the search, and eligible studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated patients who had developed postoperative urinary retention (POUR) after hemorrhoidectomy or other common anorectal surgeries. Patients receiving moxibustion formed the intervention group, whereas the control group received the usual care only.
Discussion of Results: The research analyzed 34 randomized controlled trials and established that moxibustion was much more effective than the usual care in managing postoperative urinary retention after common anorectal surgeries. The moxibustion group experienced significantly higher markedly effective rates, defined as spontaneous voiding with complete symptom relief shortly after treatment, and also the total effective rates, which included both markedly effective rates plus the effective rate, defined as spontaneous voiding with partial symptom relief. In addition to these, the moxibustion group had significantly shorter times to the first urination after treatment compared to those who received usual care only.
