Electroacupuncture May Improve Chronic Constipation Symptoms

Electroacupuncture (EA) treatment may improve symptoms of chronic severe functional constipation (CSFC), according to new research.

Although acupuncture has been used as a treatment for chronic constipation, little research has evaluated its effectiveness.

To determine its efficacy for CSFC, the researchers analyzed 1075 patients with CSFC and no serious underlying cause of constipation who were treated at 15 hospitals in China.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive either 28 sessions of EA at traditional acupoints (n=536) or sham acupuncture at nonacupoints (n=539) over 8 weeks.

The researchers tracked complete spontaneous bowel movements (CSBMs) and followed patients until week 20.

From week 1 to week 8, weekly CSBMs increased 1.76 in the EA group and 0.87 in the sham group. From week 9 to week 20, weekly CSBMs increased 1.96 in the EA group and 0.89 in the sham group.

During the treatment period, 31.3% of the patients in the EA group had 3 or more weekly CSMBs vs 12.1% of the sham group. After treatment, 37.7% of those in the EA group had 3 or more CSMBs vs 14.1% of the sham group.

“Eight weeks of EA increases CSBMs and is safe for the treatment of CSFC,” the researchers concluded. “Additional study is warranted to evaluate a longer-term treatment and follow-up.”

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Liu Z, Yan S, Wu J, et al. Acupuncture for chronic severe functional constipation: a randomized, controlled trial [published online September 13, 2016]. Ann Intern Med. doi:10.7326/M15-3118.