Moxibustion

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture plus moxibustion (EA-Moxi) of combined Shu- and Mu-acupoints on the symptoms and quality of daily life in chronic superficial gastritis (CSG) patients. METHODS: Sixty cases were randomly divided into EA-Moxi group (n = 30) and medication group (n = 30). For patients of the former group, EA (50 Hz, 3 mA) was applied to Zhongwan (CV 12), bilateral Weishu (BL 21), bilateral Zusanli (ST 36), in combination with bilateral Ganshu (BL 18) and Qimen (LR 14) for patients with liver-stomach disharmony syndrome, and with moxibustion of Zhongwan (CV 12), bilateral Weishu (BL 21), bilateral Zusanli (ST 36), Pishu (BL 20) and Zhangmen (LR 13) for those with spleen-stomach deficiency syndrome. The treatment was administrated once a day, five days a week for 4 weeks. The patients of medication group were treated with Omeperazole (20 mg, qd.) capsules. The total course of treatment was 4 weeks. Clinical therapeutic effects were evaluated according to some related standards, and the quality of life was assessed by SF-36 questionnaire. RESULTS: After the treatment, of the 30 cases in EA-Moxi and medication groups, 6 (20.0%) and 3 (10.0%) were cured, 16 (53.3%) and 8 (26.7%) experienced marked improvement, 5 (16.7%) and 9 (30.0%) were effective, and 3 (10.0%) and 10 (33.3%) failed, with the effective rates being 90.0% and 66.7% respectively. The difference of the effective rates between two groups was significant (P<0.05). Self-comparison showed a marked improvement in the quality of life including physical function (PF), role physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social function (SF), role emotion (RE) and mental health (MH) in both groups after the treatment. The scores of health utility (HU), RP and RE in EA-Moxi group were evidently higher than those of medication group (P<0.05, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: EA-Moxi of combined Shu- and Mu-acupoints can effectively relieve CSG patients' clinical symptoms and their quality of life.