Clinical Trial of Acupuncture Treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Accompanied with Somnipathy at Acupoints of Governor Vessel at Back Segment / 针刺研究

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To observe the curative effect of needling stimulation of the back segment (10 spots below the spinous processes from T 3 to T 12)of the Governor Vessel in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD)accompanied with somnipathy. METHODS: A total of 58 patients of GERD accompanied with somnipathy were randomly divided into acupuncture group (n＝28) and medication group (n＝30)according to random number table method. For patients of the acupuncture group, the spots below the spinous processes from T 3 to T 12, including acupoints Shenzhu (GV 12), Shendao (GV 11), Lingtai (GV 10), Zhiyang (GV 9), Jinsuo (GV 8), Zhongshu (GV 7) and non-acupoints (T 4, T 8, T 12) were punctured with filiform needles, once every other day for 8 weeks. Patients of the medication group were ordered to take Omeprazole capsules (20 mg/time), twice a day for 8 weeks. The therapeutic effect was assessed by "Reflux Diagnostic Questionnaire" (RDQ，scores of symptoms of heartburn, retrosternal pain, acid regurgitation and food regurgitation, 0－40 points), GERD symptom scale (scores of symptoms of the digestive system, five-sense organs, cardiovascular system, etc., 0－84 points) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI, scores of sleep quality, fall asleep time, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, etc., 0－21 points), respectively. RESULTS: After the treatment, RDQ score, GERD symptom scale score and PSQI score were significantly decreased in both acupuncture and medication groups compared with their own pre-treatment(P<0.01), and the decreased scores of RDQ, GERD scale and PSQI were significantly lower in the acupuncture group than in the medication group (P<0.01). The cured plus markedly effective rates for RDQ in the two groups were 43.3% (13/30) and 71.4% (20/28), respectively, and the effective rates of the medication and acupuncture groups were 56.7% (17/30) and 89.3% (25/28) for GERD scale, and 60.0% (18/30) and 92.9% (26/28) for PSQI, respectively. The cured plus markedly effective rate for RDQ, and the effective rates for GERD scale and PSQI were signi-ficantly higher in the acupuncture group than in the medication group respectively (P<0.05，P<0.01)．. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture stimulation of acupoints of Governor Vessel at the back segment is effective in improving symptoms of GERD patients with somnipathy.