Management of acupuncture in patients with bladder pain syndrome

Bladder pain syndrome (BPS) is a chronic clinical disorderthat often leads to increased urinary frequency, urinary urgency, and pelvic pain. This condition is characterized by exacerbations, remissions, and varying degrees of severity without an apparentunderlying etiology. Bladder pain can be assessed using the pelvic pain and urinary urgency frequency (PUF) questionnaire and visual analog scale (VAS). Although several treatment modalities have been employed to treat BPS, there is no consensus regarding the best treatment. Moreover, there are a number of disadvantages, namely high recurrence rates reported in symptoms. The use of therapeutic drugs may cause side effects; some patients with BPS experience drug intolerance. Various studies have investigated the use of acupuncture to treat BPS and have achieved good results, particularly in alleviating distressing pain. Here, we report thecase of a patient with BPS who was successfully treated with acupuncture. In this case, acupuncture demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing pain and frequency of micturition, which corresponded with the improvement in PUF scores and VAS.