Computer electroacupuncture: rationale for the use in the treatment of painful form of irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

In a prospective clinical trial, we have compared the effectiveness of the computerized electroacupuncture (CEAP) added to thestandard pharmacological therapy of the patients with painful form of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)in the main group against its isolated pharmacological therapy in the control group. The study involved 80 volunteerswhich were previously randomly divided to the 2 equal groups due to the type of treatment. Patients in the main group received three courses of CEAP. Each CEAP course contained the five everyday sessions, the interruption period between courses was one month. The inclusion of CEAP to the complex therapy of the painful IBS was accompanied with decreasingof the pain severity to 42%, byVisual Pain Scale. The patients' subjective condition indicators were significantly improved: the levels of depression (according to the Zung test), actual and personal anxiety (according to the Spiberger-Khanin questionnaire) were decreased, the parameters assessed using the SAN questionnaire were increased. Key words: acupuncture, computer electroacupuncture, irritable bowel syndrome, pain treatment, reflexology.