Acupuncture for the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder characterized by lower abdominal pain or discomfort, diarrhea, constipation (or alternating diarrhea/constipation), gas, and bloating. Objective: To describe the treatment of IBS from the viewpoint of a gastroenterologist/acupuncturist. Design, Setting, and Patients: Over the past 5 years, 149 patients were diagnosed as having IBS following the Rome II criteria. An additional 35 patients presented with persistent (> 6 months) history of localized undiagnosed abdominal quadrant pain. The patients treated with acupuncture were selected on the basis of nonresponse to standard medical treatment. Interventions: Acupuncture Energetics method using an N-N + 1 circuit on the Yang Ming-Tai Yin meridians. Occasionally, a Shao Yang-Jue Jin circuit was used, especially if there was evidence of significant anxiety. Usually, microcurrent at 2 Hz was applied between 2 points, bilaterally. For the Balance Method, acupuncture points were needled only on 1 side, balancing Yin and Yang points. An example of a circuit would be SP 9, LR 8, TE 5, LI 4 on the right side, and PC 6, LU 7, ST 36, and GB 34 on the left side. The needles were inserted to 1.5-2.5 cun. De Qi was obtained on insertion. The needles were usually retained 30-40 minutes. The patients were treated once a week. Main Outcome Measure: Response to treatment. Results: Overall, there was 80% improvement with acupuncture treatments in both groups of patients. The Acupuncture Energetics method and Balance Method were equally effective in the treatment of these patients. However, the Balance Method was applied more quickly to patients than the Acupuncture Energetics method. Conclusions: Acupuncture is an effective treatment for patients with IBS and patients with localized abdominal quadrant pain. Further studies are warranted to test the generalizability of these findings.