Clinical Efficacy of Abdominal Acupoint Massage for Treatment of Functional Constipation in Elderly Patients / 胃肠病学

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of functional constipation (FC) is increased in elderly population, and seeking for a simple, safe and effective treatment modality is of great importance.Aims: To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of abdominal acupoint massage in elderly FC patients.Methods: A total of 151 elderly patients with FC were enrolled and randomly assigned into three groups group A was treated with bisacodyl 5 mg once a day orally, group B with massage on Guanyuan, Zhongwan and Tianshu acupoints three times a day and group C with their combination.The treatment course was 4 weeks.The stool frequency per week was recorded, and the Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptoms scale (PAC-SYM) was scored.Results: The baseline data were comparable among the three groups (P>0.05).When compared with those before treatment, there was an increase in stool frequency per week and decrease in overall and dimensional scores of PAC-SYM at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after the beginning of treatment in all the three groups (P<0.05).Bisacodyl was superior to acupoint massage for improving stool frequency, consistency and rectal symptoms (P<0.05), while acupoint massage was superior to bisacodyl for alleviating abdominal symptoms (P<0.05).Mild adverse effects were recorded in patients receiving oral bisacodyl, and no adverse effects were observed in patients receiving acupoint massage.Conclusions: Abdominal acupoint massage is safe and effective for improving stool frequency and constipation-associated symptoms especially abdominal symptoms such as abdominal pain and distention in elderly FC patients.