Therapeutic Study on Scalp Acupuncture plus Body Acupuncture for Diarrhea-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome / 上海针灸杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of scalp acupuncture plus body acupuncture in treating diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS). Method Totally 122 D-IBS patients were randomized into a scalp acupuncture group (41 cases), a body acupuncture group (41 cases), and a combined group (40 cases). The scalp acupuncture group was intervened by acupuncture at the Stomach and Intestine Zones on the head; the body acupuncture group was by ordinary body acupuncture; the combined group was by both scalp acupuncture and body acupuncture. The symptom score of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) was evaluated prior to the treatment, at the end of the first and second treatment courses, and after the whole intervention; the clinical efficacies were also compared among the three groups. Result The symptom scores of the combined group were significantly lower than that of the scalp acupuncture group and body acupuncture group respectively at the end of the second treatment course and after the whole intervention (P<0.05); after the whole intervention, the cured and markedly-effective rate was 62.5% in the combined group, significantly higher than 24.4% in the scalp acupuncture group and 29.3% in the body acupuncture group (P<0.05). Conclusion Scalp acupuncture plus body acupuncture can produce a satisfactory clinical efficacy in treating D-IBS, better than body acupuncture or scalp acupuncture alone; its advantages include rapid onset of action, significant effect, and reducing intestinal inflammation, etc.