NCT06366269

Acupuncture First for IC/BPS

Acupuncture as First-line Therapy for Patients With Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 34 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 89 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if acupuncture in addition to behavioral changes can better treat in women with bladder pain syndrome (also known as interstitial cystitis) that have not received other treatments. The main question it aims to answer is: Does acupuncture improve pain symptoms on the Interstitial Cystitis Index? Researchers will compare six (6) weeks behavioral management alone to behavioral management and acupuncture. Participants will * complete surveys about their bladder pain symptoms * make behavioral changes that have been shown to improve bladder pain symptoms * attend six (6) weekly acupuncture sessions * attend six (6) weekly physical therapy sessions after finishing acupuncture

Conditions

• Bladder Pain Syndrome
• Interstitial Cystitis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Acupuncture	traditional and electroacupuncture
BEHAVIORAL	Behavioral management	based on American urologic association guidelines
OTHER	Physical therapy	pelvic floor with biofeedback

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-01-21
• Primary completion: 2026-10-01
• Completion: 2026-10-01
• First posted: 2024-04-15
• Last updated: 2026-01-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States