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World J Gastroenterol. Feb 21, 2014; 20(7): 1871-1877
Published online Feb 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i7.1871
Published online Feb 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i7.1871
Effectiveness of acupuncture to treat irritable bowel syndrome: A meta-analysis
Guan-Qun Chao, Department of Family Medicine, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China
Shuo Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang S designed the research and revised the manuscript; Chao GQ and Zhang S performed the research and analyzed the data; Chao GQ wrote the manuscript. Chao GQ and Zhang S contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
Supported by the Youth Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81202828; and the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China, No. LY12H03013; and Academic Climbing Project of the Youth Discipline Leader of Universities in Zhejiang Province (pd2013209)
Correspondence to: Shuo Zhang, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, No. 54, Youdian Road, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China. zhangshuo@medmail.com.cn
Telephone: +86-571-87608001 Fax: +86-571-87608001
Received: September 26, 2013
Revised: November 25, 2013
Accepted: December 12, 2013
Published online: February 21, 2014
Revised: November 25, 2013
Accepted: December 12, 2013
Published online: February 21, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is not life-threatening, but leads to significant impairment of health-related quality of life. There is still no universally accepted satisfactory treatment for IBS. Nowadays, acupuncture is increasingly popular in patients with various diseases. Several studies showed an improvement in quality of life in IBS patients after acupuncture, but other studies showed no improvement. We performed a meta-analysis to establish the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture for IBS.