Abstract
At a hospital for children with severe mental and physical handicap where the incidence of nocturnal enuresis exceeds 88%, a group of 128 children between the ages of 5 and 19 years (65% of those resident) were treated with acupuncture. The overall response showed good or very good benefit for 29% of patients, while 44% had none. The most responsive age group was the 10 to 14 year olds with 50% success; there was no difference between boys and girls. Children with the most severe mental retardation and those with day time faecal and urinary incontinence responded less well. The benefit felt by the whole hospital community at the reduction of bed wetting was substantial. The author believes that acupuncture for enuresis in mentally and physically handicapped children is an effective and worthwhile treatment.
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