The Clinical Study Of Smokeless Moxibustion Therapy In Treating Functional Dyspepsia Due To Deficiency-cold Of Spleen And Stomach With Acupuncture

Objectives:To observe the clinical therapeutic effects and safety between smokeless moxibustion and ordinary moxibustion with concurrent acupuncture treatment in treating functional dyspepsia (FD) due to deficiency-cold of spleen and stomach.Methods:70Patients of FD due to deficiency-cold of spleen and stomach were randomized into two groups:smokeless moxibustion group (treatment group,35cases) and ordinary moxibustion group (control group,35cases). Patients in treatment group were treated with smokeless moxibustion and acupuncture; while Patients in control group were treated with ordinary moxibustion and acupuncture, five times a week, four weeks in all. Altogether, one Patient was given20times of acupuncture during this course. Each patient was followed up once after four week’s treatment. The therapeutic effect was assessed through variation of NDI (Nepean Dyspepsia Index) scoring, pattern scoring of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and FD symptom scoring before, after and four weeks after the treatment.Results:1. Efficacy evaluation(1) Effective rate:At the end of the treatment, the control group (ordinary moxibustion group) exhibited better results than the treatment group (smokeless moxibustion group) with significant statistical differences between them (P<0.05).(2) Scoring changes after four weeks treatments:①Self-control comparison before and after the treatment:the differences of NDI scoring, FD symptom scoring,and Pattern scoring of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) before and after the treatment in both groups were of statistical significance (P<0.05), which means that both ordinary and smokeless moxibustion are effective in improving patients’ quality of life, functional dyspepsia,and pattern manifestation of TCM.②Comparison between the two groups after the treatment: the differences of NDI scoring before and after the treatment between both groups were of no statistical significance (P>0.05), which means that there is no therapeutic difference between the two groups in terms of improving patient’s quality of life. The differences of FD scoring and Pattern scoring of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)before and after the treatment between both groups were of statistical significance (P<0.05), which means that there is therapeutic difference between the two groups in terms of improving symptoms of functional dyspepsia and symptoms of functional dyspepsia, and control group is better than treatment group.(3) Scoring changes at the follow-up time:①Self-control comparison before the treatment and at the follow-up time in each group:the differences of NDI scoring, FD symptom scoring and pattern scoring before the treatment and at the follow-up time in both groups were of statistical significance (P<0.05), which means that the treatment in both groups were effective and the effectiveness could last to four weeks after the treatment.②Group comparison at the follow-up time:the differences of NDI scoring, FD symptom scoring and pattern scoring before the treatment and at the follow-up time in both groups were of no statistical significance (P>0.05), meaning that there is no therapeutic difference between the two groups four weeks after the treatment in improving patients’quality of life, FD symptoms and TCM syndrome.2. Safety evaluationIn the control group (ordinary moxibustion group), five adverse events were noticed with the incidence of15.62%, among which, one was related with acupuncture, three were related with moxibustion, one was possibly neither related with acupuncture nor moxibustion. In the smokeless moxibustion treatment group, one adverse event was noticed with an incidence of3.03%and it was believed to be related with acupuncture.Conclusion:Both ordinary moxibustion and smokeless moxibustion therapy are effective for functional dyspepsia caused by deficiency-cold of spleen and stomach, and the effectiveness could last to four weeks after the treatment. The control group was superior to the treatment group in terms of efficacy and inferior to the treatment group in terms of incidence of adverse reaction. This indicate that the smokeless moxibustion produces no smoke and is relatively safe and is worthy of wide clinical application.