System evaluation of Electro-acupuncture (EA) for functional constipation

Objective: By the systematic evaluation of previous literature, this study was to look for the evidence of evidence-based medicine to objectively evaluate the clinical efficacy, Security. Methods: From 1993 January to 2012 December nearly twenty years of EA in the treatment of functional constipation of domestic and foreign clinical randomized controlled studys, develop quality evaluation and meta analysis. Results: Through strict screening, 16 randomized controlled studys involving 1369 cases were ultimately meet the standards, all of them were Chinese literature. Meta-analysis showed that, after acupuncture treatment of functional constipation, the improvement of efficiency and independent defecation frequency in one week were as good as the oral drug therapy and superior to placebo acupuncture therapy. When the improvement of Cleveland Clinic Score (CCS) acupuncture treatment was as good as oral drug therapy. Thereinto the efficacy of abdominal acupuncture with deep insertion was superior to the shallow insertion. When comparing efficacy in the changes of the constipation symptom scores, the acupuncture treatment was superior to the placebo therapy; None obvious adverse events of acupuncture treatment of functional constipation has been found. Conclusion : Through systematic evaluation, Acupuncture treatment of functional constipation was safe, with efficacy in various aspects as good as the oral drug therapy. The efficacy of acupuncture therapy was relevant to the insertion depth within safety range.