Electrical stimulation alleviates abdominal pain, symptoms in IBS with constipation
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Transcutaneous electrical acustimulation improved abdominal pain and constipation symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome compared with a sham procedure, according to a study published in American Journal of Gastroenterology.
“In the past few years, transcutaneous electrical acustimulation (TEA), a noninvasive method that replaces needles [with] surface electrodes, has been found to improve chronic constipation, postoperative recovery, abdominal pain and functional dyspepsia,” Zhihui Huang, PhD, of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital at Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China, and colleagues wrote. “However, it is unknown whether TEA is capable of concurrently improving constipation and abdominal pain.”
In a single-center study, Huang and colleagues randomized 52 patients with IBS-C (65.3% women; mean age, 50.5 years ± 16.7) in a 1:1 ratio — 26 receiving TEA and 26 receiving sham TEA daily for 4 weeks. The number of complete spontaneous bowel movements (CSBMs) per week served as the primary outcome.
Researchers assessed colonic transport with radiopaque markers and autonomic functions by recording electrocardiograms.
In the last week of treatment, patients in the TEA group had an increased number of CSBMs compared with the sham-TEA group. In a Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life completed before and after treatment, researchers noted a significant decrease in the total score among the TEA group (P = .004). The TEA group also had improved colon transit (P = .002), increased threshold of rectal sensation (desire to defecate, P = .004; maximum tolerability, P < .001) and increased vagal activity (P < .05).
“At the end of the treatment, 11 patients (44%) in the TEA group reported to have three or more CSBMs/week, compared with one patient (4.2%) in the sham-TEA group (P = 0.001),” Huang and colleagues wrote. “At the end of follow-up (6 months after the treatment), the number of CSBMs/week decreased to 2.6 ± 0.7 in the TEA group but was still higher than that in the sham-TEA group (2.1 ± 0.6, P = .011 vs. TEA).”
The researchers noted an additional benefit of this form of acupuncture may be in providing patients with a readily accessible therapy that can address symptoms as they arise.
“With the replacement of acupuncture needles by surface electrodes, TEA can be performed at home daily, or even a few times daily, which improves therapeutic outcomes,” Huang and colleagues wrote. “In addition, TEA only uses a few acupuncture points that are near peripheral nerves; for example, it uses ST36 that is near peroneal, sciatic and tibial nerves and PC6 that coincides with the medial nerve.”
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