2020 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Acupuncture at ST25 appears to be more effective than lactulose in the treatment of functional constipation.

The meta-analysis demonstrates that acupuncture at ST25 appears to be more effective than lactulose in the treatment of functional constipation. This was found to be especially true for deep needling with high-frequency dilatational wave, which had a greater impact on improving CCS, FSD, CTT, and CCS6m. Additionally, acupuncture at ST25 was shown to be safer than conventional treatment, with the rate of AE being significantly lower for both deep needling and shallow needling.

Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture at Tianshu (ST25) for Functional Constipation: Evidence from 10 Randomized Controlled Trials Li P, Luo Y, Wang Q, Shu S, Chen K, Yu D, Fan C.

2020 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Current evidence suggests that acupuncture is an efficient and safe treatment for functional constipation.

This systematic review suggests that acupuncture for FC is safe and effective, especially in terms of increased stool frequency and improved constipation symptoms, stool formation, and quality of life, but the relationship between acupuncture and drugs is not clear. In the future, high-quality RCTs are still needed to provide evidence to support these conclusions and examine the alternative or complementary relationship between acupuncture and existing drugs for the treatment of FC.

The Effectiveness of Acupuncture in Management of Functional Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Wang, Lu; Xu, Mingmin; Zheng, Qianhua; Zhang, Wei; Li, Ying.

2020 Neural Plasticity

Acupuncture treatment can improve the clinical effectiveness of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome or functional diarrhea.

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the effectiveness and safety of 31 acupuncture concerned studies for patients with IBS-D or FD were evaluated. We found that acupuncture can significantly reduce the number of stools per week in IBS-D or FD patients, improve patients’ overall symptoms, improve the total effective rate, decrease the recurrence rate, and reduce the pain level of patients. Based on the results, we believe that acupuncture can improve the quality of life of patients with IBS-D or FD. Although the number of adverse events in the acupuncture group was similar to that in the control group, the majority of adverse events in the acupuncture group were subcutaneous hemorrhage. With such slight adverse events, we have observed that acceptance among patients has not been reduced. Moreover, the withdrawal rate of patients in the acupuncture group was still slightly lower than that in the control group.

Acupuncture for Adults with Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Functional Diarrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Jianbo Guo, Xiaoxiao Xing, Jiani Wu, Hui Zhang, Yongen Yun, Zongshi Qin, and Qingyong He

2020 World Journal of Gastroenterology

Positive effects of acupuncture and electroacupuncture were observed in regulating gastric motility, gastric accommodation, mental status, gastrointestinal hormones, and central and autonomic functions while improving dyspeptic symptoms and quality of life.

In this systematic review, we pooled randomized controlled trials with mechanistic investigations of acupuncture or electroacupuncture in improving dyspeptic symptoms, and illustrated the existing results that may provide potential explanations for the therapeutic effects. The findings of included studies in this review suggest that acupuncture and electroacupuncture can improve gastric motility and accommodation, regulate gastrointestinal hormones and mental status, and alter certain central and autonomic functions in patients with functional dyspepsia. However, due to limitations in the included articles, high-quality studies with well-planned designs and multiregional investigations are necessary to provide more convincing and credible evidence.

Effects and mechanisms of acupuncture and electroacupuncture for functional dyspepsia: A systematic review Guo Y, Wei W, Chen JD

2019 Pain Research and Management

Acupuncture could be used as an adjunct in clinical settings to improve efficacy of western medicine for irritable bowel syndrome.

Taken together, for improvement of IBS symptoms and quality of life, no difference was found in acupuncture relative to sham controls studies, while some studies indicated positive results of acupuncture in alleviating IBS symptoms, reflective of a larger potential for treating IBS by true acupuncture. Acupuncture seemed to be superior over western medicine, but the placebo effects couldn’t be ignored for all the studies were conducted in China. Acupuncture might be used as an adjunct to western medicine, herbal medicine and tuina for a better clinical effect. Future high-quality and large-sample studies with adequate stimulation amounts need to be conducted for further testing.

Comparison between the Effects of Acupuncture Relative to Other Controls on Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis Zheng H, Chen R, Zhao X, Li G, Liang Y, Zhang H, Chi Z

2019 Sports Medicine

Results of the meta-analysis identified a significant benefit for citrulline compared to placebo treatments on indices of high-intensity exercise performance in healthy men and women.

Twelve studies, consisting of 13 total independent samples (n = 198 participants), met the inclusion criteria. Between-study variance, heterogeneity, and inconsistency across studies were low, and no funnel plot asymmetry was present. Results of the meta-analysis identified a significant benefit for citrulline compared to placebo treatments, with a small pooled standardized mean difference.

The effect size was small (0.20), and confidence intervals for each individual study crossed the line of null effect. However, the results may be relevant to high-level athletes, in which competitive outcomes are decided by small margins.

Acute Effects of Citrulline Supplementation on High-Intensity Strength and Power Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Trexler, E.T., Persky, A.M., Ryan, E.D. et al.

2018 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Acupuncture may improve diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome better than drugs and has the fewest side effects.

Acupuncture may improve diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome better than drugs and has the fewest side effects. Sham acupuncture may have curative effect except for placebo effect. In the future, it is necessary to perform highly qualified research to prove this result. Pinaverium bromide also has good curative effects with fewer side effects than other drugs.

Acupuncture for Diarrhoea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Network Meta-Analysis Zhu L, Ma Y, Ye S, Shu Z

2018 Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Acupuncture has been shown to decrease disease activity and inflammation via increase of vagal activity in inflammatory bowel disease.

In this review, we discuss the history, theory, and methodology of acupuncture and review potentially beneficial mechanisms of action of acupuncture for managing inflammatory bowel disease. Acupuncture has been shown to decrease disease activity and inflammation via increase of vagal activity in inflammatory bowel disease. Acupuncture has demonstrated beneficial roles in the regulation of gut dysbiosis, intestinal barrier function, visceral hypersensitivity, gut motor dysfunction, depression/anxiety, and pain, all of which are factors that can significantly impact quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Acupuncture in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Gengqing Song, MD, Claudio Fiocchi, MD, Jean-Paul Achkar, MD

2017 Acupuncture in Medicine

Patients receiving acupuncture combined with western medicine had a superior global symptom improvement compared with those receiving western medicine alone for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.

A total of 12 trials involving 1235 patients were included. Meta-analyses demonstrated that patients receiving MA/EA combined with WM had a superior global symptom improvement compared with those receiving WM alone with no significant heterogeneity. Recurrence rates of those receiving MA/EA alone were lower than those receiving WM with low heterogeneity, while global symptom improvement (six studies) and symptom scores (three studies) were similar. Descriptive analyses suggested that acupuncture also improves quality of life in patients with GORD.

Acupuncture for the treatment of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis Zhu, J., Guo, Y., Liu, S., Su, X., Li, Y., Yang, Y., Hou, L., Wang, G., Zhang, J., Chen, J. J. D., Wang, Q., Wei, R., & Wei, W.

2015 World Journal of Gastroenterology

Acupuncture has the potential to treat gastrointestinal (GI) disorders by regulating GI motility, the GI barrier, visceral sensitivity, and the brain-gut axis.

Although acupuncture has been used as an appropriate adjunctive treatment for GI dysfunction diseases, the underlying mechanisms have not been clearly understood. Currently, there are no systematic and comprehensive review articles that clarify the regulatory effect of acupuncture on GI function. In this review, we discuss the regulation on GI function through acupuncture from the perspectives of GI motility, the GI barrier, visceral sensitivity, and the brain-gut axis. The results of studies in both humans and animals suggest that acupuncture has the potential to treat GI disorders by regulating GI motility, the GI barrier, visceral sensitivity, and the brain-gut axis. In addition, the dual regulatory effects and the intensity-dependent nature of acupuncture on GI motility are discussed.

Acupuncture and regulation of gastrointestinal function Li H, He T, Xu Q, Li Z, Liu Y, Li F, Yang BF, Liu CZ.