Comparison of Electroacupuncture and Mild-Warm Moxibustion on Brain-Gut Function in Patients with Constipation-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Published in: Chinese journal of integrative medicine 2018-05, Vol.24 (5), p.328-335
• Main Authors: Zhao, Ji-meng, Lu, Jin-hua, Yin, Xiao-jun, Wu, Lu-yi, Bao, Chun-hui, Chen, Xing-kui, Chen, Yue-hua, Tang, Wei-jun, Jin, Xiao-ming, Wu, Huan-gan, Shi, Yin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article
• ISSN: 1672-0415; 1993-0402
• DOI: 10.1007/s11655-018-2838-0

Objective To compare the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) and mild-warm moxibustion (Mox) therapies for constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (C-IBS) patients. Methods Sixty C-IBS patients were assigned to 2 groups by simple randomized method, i.e. EA group (30 cases) and Mox group (30 cases). Both EA and Mox treatments were performed on bilateral Tianshu (ST 25) and Shangjuxu (ST 37) for 30 min each time, 6 times per week, for 4 consecutive weeks. The gastrointestinal symptoms and psychological symptoms of the two groups were scored before and after treatment. The effects on the corresponding functional brain areas, namely the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insular cortex (IC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) were observed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and after treatment. Results Compared with the Mox group, greater improvements in abdominal distension, defecation frequency, diffificulty in defecation and stool features were observed in the EA group (all P