Effects of syndrome-differentiation acupuncture on life quality in patients with functional dyspepsia

Objective To observe effects of syndrome-differentiation acupuncture on life quality in patients with functional dyspepsia(FD)in order to evaluate its clinical efficacy.Methods One hundred and five cases of FD were randomly divided into a syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group,a regular acupuncture group and a nonacupoint group,35cases in each one.Zhongwan(CV 12),Tianshu(ST 25),Zusanli(ST 36)were selected as main acupoints in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group.After syndrome differentiation,Danzhong(CV 17)and Zhangmen(LR 13)were added for those with stagnation of liver qi;Pishu(BL 20)and Weishu(BL 21)were added for those with deficiency of spleen-stomach qi;Qimen(LR 14)and Taichong(LR 3)were added for liver-qi invading stomach and Yinlingquan(SP 9)and Neiting(ST 44)were added for dampness-heat blocking stomach.The selection of acupoints in the regular acupuncture group was the same as main acupoints in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group.The points 10mm la-teral to the main acupoints were selected in the non-acupoint group.The treatment was given once a day,six days as a treatment course and totally two courses were required.The symptom total score,health-related quality of life survey(SF-36)and Nepean dyspepsia index(NDI)were evaluated before and after the treatment as well as one month after the treatment(follow-up visit),respectively.The efficacy was also assessed.Results After the treatment,the total effective rate was 87.5%(28/32)in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group,which was superior to 74.2%(23/31)in the regular acupuncture group and 20.7%(6/29)in the non-acupoint group(P0.05,P0.01).Compared before the treatment,the SF-36,NDI and symptom total score after the treatment and in the follow-up visit were all obviously improved in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group and regular acupuncture group(all P0.05), which was the most obvious in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group [after the treatment,SF-36: 84.54±5.93vs 81.44±6.22,63.46±6.59;NDSI:18.94±9.30vs 21.23±8.39,43.93±11.26;NDLQI: 71.42±7.23vs 63.11±7.06,54.87±6.00;symptom total score:22.06±15.80vs 32.52±16.88,47.97± 10.92];the improvement in the regular acupuncture group was more obvious than that in the non-acupoint group(P0.01,P0.05).Compared before the treatment,only NDSI score was improved in the non-acupoint group after the treatment(P0.05).Conclusion The syndrome-differentiation acupuncture could obviously improve patient's life quality in the treatment of FD,which is an effective therapy for FD.