The authors assessed the efficacy of acupressure for treating nocturnal enuresis compared with oxybutinin. Parents of twelve patients administered acupressure at acupuncture points Gv4, Gv15, Gv20, B23, B28, B32, H7, H9, St36, Sp4, Sp6, Sp12, Ren2, Ren3, Ren6, K3 and K5. Twelve control patients received 0.4 mg/kg oxybutinin. Parents were asked to record incidences of bed-wetting and patients and/or parents completed a questionnaire 15 days and one, three and six months after the start of treatment.
Complete and partial responses after six months of treatment were seen in 83.3% and 16.7%, respectively, of patients treated with acupressure, and in 58.3% and 33.3%, respectively, of children who received oxybutinin.
In conclusion, nocturnal enuresis can be partially treated by oxybutinin but acupressure could be an alternative non-drug therapy. Acupressure has the advantages of being non-invasive, painless and cost-effective.