Biblioteca Virtual en Salud

Objective:

To compare the efficacy of conventional Western medicine alone and acupuncture combined with acupoint application in treating intestinal dysfunction secondary to mechanical ventilation in elderly patients with emergency sepsis.

Methods:

A retrospective analysis was performed on 111 elderly patients with mechanical ventilation for sepsis admitted to the emergency department of Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from January 2019 to June 2021. They were divided into two groups according to the time of admission Western medicine treatment group alone (patients from January 2019 to December 2019, n=47) and acupuncture combined with acupoint application group (patients from January 2020 to June 2021, n=64). Acupuncture combined with acupoint application group was treated with acupuncture combined with acupoint application on the basis of conventional Western medicine. The intestinal dysfunction score, abdominal circumference and mortality after 4 weeks were compared between the two groups.

Results:

The abdominal circumference and intestinal dysfunction score in acupuncture combined with acupoint application group were significantly lower than those before treatment [(100.56±9.34)cm vs (106.25±9.74)cm; (0.92±0.72)point vs (2.31±0.69)point, all P< 0.05], while there was no significant difference in the above indexes before and after treatment in the Western medicine treatment group (all P>0.05). The abdominal circumference, intestinal dysfunction score and mortality after 4 weeks in the acupuncture combined with acupoint application group were significantly lower than those in the Western medicine treatment group [(100.56±9.34)cm vs (108.09±10.52)cm; (0.92±0.72)point vs (2.43±0.62)point; (29.7%, 19/64) vs (48.9%, 23/47), all P<0.05].

Conclusions:

The curative effect of acupuncture combined with acupoint application in the treatment of intestinal dysfunction secondary to mechanical ventilation in elderly patients with sepsis in emergency is better than that of routine treatment of Western medicine alone. The gastrointestinal function and prognosis of patients have been significantly improved, which is worthy of clinical promotion.