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Changes in Esophageal Motility after Acupuncture

Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery volume 21, pages 1206–1211 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Chinese medicine is widely used in the East with good results for the treatment of many diseases. Acupuncture has been increasingly used and recognized as a complementary medical treatment. Some studies on gastrointestinal motility are available; however, acupuncture effect on esophageal motility is still elusive due to the lack of studies with adequate methodology. This study aims to evaluate acupuncture effect on esophageal motility.

Methods

We studied 16 (50% females, mean age 26 years) volunteers. No individual underwent acupuncture sessions previously. All individuals underwent high-resolution manometry. The test was performed in three phases: basal measurements, 20 min after acupuncture stimulation of the gastrointestinal point (ST36), or 20 min after acupuncture stimulation of a sham point (5 cm medial to ST36) (crossover). ST36 or sham points were alternated in order based on randomization. Lower esophageal sphincter (LES) resting and residual pressure, distal latency (DL) ,and distal contractility integral (DCI) were recorded. All tests were reviewed by two experienced investigators blinded to the acupuncture point.

Results

LES resting pressure was significantly reduced after acupuncture (p = 0.015, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). DL was significantly increased after acupuncture (either Sham or ST36) as compared to basal measurement.

Conclusion

Our results showed that acupuncture on the digestive point decreases LES basal pressure. Acupuncture may be an alternative treatment to spastic disorders of the LES.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Rua Diogo de Faria 1087 cj 301, Sao Paulo, 04037-003, Brazil

    Felipe M. Vieira, Fernando A. M. Herbella & Daniel H. Habib

  2. Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Marco G. Patti

Authors
  1. Felipe M. Vieira
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  2. Fernando A. M. Herbella
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  3. Daniel H. Habib
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  4. Marco G. Patti
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Contributions

FMV: acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article, and final approval of the version to be published.

FAMH: conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article, and final approval of the version to be published.

DHH: conception and design, acquisition of data, and final approval of the version to be published.

MGP: review for intellectual content and final approval of the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fernando A. M. Herbella.

Ethics declarations

The study protocol was approved by the local Ethics Committee, and written informed consent was obtained from each subject.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Poster presentation at the SSAT annual meeting, May, 2017, Chicago.

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Vieira, F.M., Herbella, F.A.M., Habib, D.H. et al. Changes in Esophageal Motility after Acupuncture. J Gastrointest Surg 21, 1206–1211 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-017-3464-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-017-3464-4

Keywords

  • Esophageal motility
  • Acupuncture
  • High resolution manometry
  • Lower esophageal sphincter