Electroacupuncture combined with Qibei mixture for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Objective To explore the short and long-term efficacy of combining electroacupuncture (EA) and Qibei mixture in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBSD). Methods Six hundred and forty-four patients with confirmed IBSD from the Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University in China, recruited from July 2012 to June 2016, were randomly divided into four groups, the EA group, Qibei mixture group, combination group and medication group with 161 patients in each group. The patients in the EA group were treated with EA at zusānlǐ (足三里ST36), Gān shu (肝俞BL18), Pǐshu (脾俞BL20), Taichōng (太冲LR36) and Qizhōngsibiān (脐中四边) once daily for 4 weeks, while the patients in the Qibei mixture group were treated with 50 mL of Qibei mixture twice daily, the combination group with the above-mentioned EA and Qibei mixture, and the medication group with 1 tablet compound diphenoxylate twice, 3 g montmorillonite powder three times and 25 mg amitriptyline twice daily. The defecation frequencies, stool properties, accompanying symptom score, life quality score and adverse reactions were recorded pre-treatment, at the end of treatment and 6 weeks post-treatment for the four groups. Results Compared with pre-treatment, the defecation frequencies, stool property score and accompanying symptom score were all decreased significantly at the end of treatment in each group (all P  P  P  P u003e  0.05), but these indices all recurred significantly in the group given Qibei mixture and the medication group ( P  P  P  Conclusion EA and Qibei mixture can decrease defecation frequencies, improve stool properties, and alleviate accompanying symptoms to increase life quality, but the therapeutic effect of combination therapy is greater, with better reliability and long-term efficacy.