Ultrasonographic observation of intestinal mobility of dogs after acupunctural stimulation on acupoints ST-36 and BL-27

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this study were to observe normal peristalsis and mixing (or segmental movements) and to evaluate an acupuncture stimulation (ST-36 and BL-27) on the intestinal (duodenum) motility in normal dogs using duplex Doppler sonography. Fifteen healthy Beagle dogs were used for this experiment after the administration of warm saline and pellet feeding. The duodenal motility was examined using duplex Doppler sonography. Six hours after the pellet feeding, an electroacupuncture stimulation at ST-36 and BL-27 was applied and the duodenal motility was examined using duplex Doppler sonography pre-stimulation, during the stimulation and post-stimulation. After saline and pellet administration, the duplex Doppler sonograms showed 3 types of peristalsis and a mixing type (or segmental movement) of duodenum motility. In the peristalsis types, most yielded high-amplitude signals which had one high peak (type-1), two high peaks (type-2), and three high peaks (type-3) and lasted more than 1.3 seconds. Mixing type of duodenum motility had weak signals and were lasted more than 1.5 seconds. Among the peristalsis types, the type 1 and type 2 were predominant and the type 3 was rarely observed. The frequency of intestinal motility stimulated by ST-36 acupoint was increased during the acupuncture stimulation (20% increase compared to the basal value) and decreased (7% decrease compared to the basal value) after stimulation. The frequency of intestinal motility stimulated by BL-27 acupoint was decreased during the acupuncture stimulation (31% decrease compared to the basal value) and increased (18% increase compared to the basal value) after stimulation. There was a significant increase(p<0.01) between the value found in during and the post-stimulation tests. We conclude that duplex Doppler studies permit a graphic visualization of intestinal movements which can be qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed using this technique, it is possible to evaluate the gastrointestinal motility after an acupuncture stimulation.