Usefulness of classical homeopathy for the prophylaxis of recurrent urinary tract infections in individuals with chronic neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction

Abstract

Context/Objective: to investigate the usefulness of classical homeopathy for the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: prospective study.

Setting: rehabilitation center in Switzerland.

Participants: patients with chronic SCI and ≥3 UTI/year.

Interventions: Participants were treated either with a standardized prophylaxis alone or in combination with homeopathy.

Outcome measures: The number of UTI, general and specific quality of life (QoL), and satisfaction with homeopathic treatment were assessed prospectively for one year.

Results: Ten patients were in the control group; 25 patients received adjunctive homeopathic treatment. The median number of self-reported UTI in the homeopathy group decreased significantly, whereas it remained unchanged in the control group. The domain incontinence impact of the KHQ improved significantly (P = 0.035), whereas the general QoL did not change. The satisfaction with homeopathic care was high.

Conclusions: Adjunctive homeopathic treatment lead to a significant decrease of UTI in SCI patients. Therefore, classical homeopathy could be considered in SCI patients with recurrent UTI.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov. (NCT01477502).

Key words:

• Homeopathy
• Neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction
• Spinal cord injury
• Urinary tract infections

Acknowledgements

We thank Swiss Medical Solution AG, Büron Switzerland, for providing the dipsticks, the B.K. Bose foundation, formerly the Sokrates foundation, Zug, Switzerland, for financial support, and Angela Frotzler, Clinical Trial Unit, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland, for her inputs for the discussion and statistical analysis.

Disclaimer statements

Contributors None.

Conflicts of interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Funding The dipstick tests used in the study were sponsored by Swiss Medical Solution AG, Werkstrasse, 6233 Büron, Switzerland. The study received financial support (urine cultures, homeopathic consultations, costs related to the questionnaires) by a grant from the Dr. B. K. Bose Stiftung für Homöopathie (https://www.shi.ch/bose-stiftung), formerly the Sokrates foundation, Zug, Switzerland).

ORCID

Jürgen Pannek http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9910-1295