Observations on the Therapeutic Effect of Liver-soothing and Spleen-reinforcing Acupuncture on Functional Constipation / 上海针灸杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of liver-soothing and spleen-reinforcing acupuncture in treating functional constipation.Methods Sixty patients with functional constipation were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 30 cases each. The treatment group received liver-soothing and spleen-reinforcing acupuncture and the control group, oral administration of prucalopride succinate tablets. The number of complete spontaneous bowel movements (CSBM), the number of spontaneous bowel movements (SBM), constipation symptoms (defecation time, defecatory difficulty and fecal characters) scores and The Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life (PAC-QOL) score were recorded in the two groups before and after two and four weeks of treatment. The clinical therapeutic effects were compared.Results After two weeks of treatment, there were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in CSBM and SBM in the treatment group (P0.05). After two and four weeks of treatment, there were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in constipation symptoms scores in thetwo groups (P0.05). The total efficacy rate was 80.0% in the treatment group and 73.3% in the control group; there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05).Conclusions Liver-soothing and spleen-reinforcing acupuncture has a marked therapeutic effect on functional constipation. It produces a quick effect with high safety.