Basic Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2005. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 14, 2005; 11(26): 4040-4044
Published online Jul 14, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i26.4040
Acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome: A blinded placebo-controlled trial
Alastair Forbes, Sue Jackson, Clare Walter, Shafi Quraishi, Meron Jacyna, Max Pitcher
Alastair Forbes, Sue Jackson, Clare Walter, Shafi Quraishi, Meron Jacyna, Max Pitcher, St Mark’s Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow HA1 3UJ, United Kingdom
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the a donation gratefully received from the T-R Golden Charitable Trust
Correspondence to: Dr. Alastair Forbes, St Mark’s Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow HA1 3UJ, United Kingdom. lastair.forbes@ic.ac.uk
Telephone: +44-20-8235-4046 Fax: +44-20-8235-4039
Received: December 22, 2002
Revised: November 10, 2003
Accepted: November 12, 2003
Published online: July 14, 2005
Abstract

AIM: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder and many patients fail to find adequate relief from conventional therapies for their symptoms. This study tests the claim that acupuncture is effective for a majority of these patients.

METHODS: A prospective, blinded, sham acupuncture-controlled trial of traditional Chinese acupuncture was performed at a single postgraduate teaching hospital in Europe. Sixty patients with well-established IBS were recruited. The blinded comparator was sham acupuncture administered by the second of two acupuncturists who alone was aware of the randomization, and who otherwise followed the prescription of the first. The primary end-point was a defined fall in the symptom score at 13 wk (by intention to treat). The prior expectation was a 30% placebo response, and a response rate of 70% from acupuncture, for which the study was adequately powered.

RESULTS: Patients in treated and sham groups improved significantly during the study-mean improvement in scores being equal (minus 1.9) and significant for both (P < 0.05; one-tailed t test). There was a small numeric but non-significant difference between the response rate in patients receiving acupuncture (40.7%) and sham treatment (31.2%). Several secondary end-points marginally favored active treatment, but an improved symptom score of any degree of magnitude occurred more often with sham therapy (65.6% vs 59.2%). For no criterion was statistical significance approached.

CONCLUSION: Traditional Chinese acupuncture is relatively ineffective in IBS in the European hospital setting, and the magnitude of any effect appears insufficient to warrant investment in acupuncture services.

Keywords: Acupuncture; Complementary therapy; Irritable bowel syndrome; Traditional medicine