Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Conditions
Keywords
Diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, Acupuncture, abdominal pain
Brief summary
Acupuncture has been used for centuries in China in the treatment of diarrhea. Our hypothesis is that acupuncture is effective in the treatment of abdominal pain and diarrhea in patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS
Detailed description
Patients will complete a diary to determine if they qualify for the study. Patients will be randomized to receive either acupuncture or sham acupuncture (needle insertion 1 cm away from acupuncture site). Patients will be blinded to whether they are receiving acupuncture or sham acupuncture. The acupuncturist is blinded as to the patient response. The patients will undergo venupuncture to draw blood to determine sertotonin and beta-endorphin levels. They will receive treatment in 12 sessions over 4 weeks. They will maintain a diary during this time period to document level of pain and frequency of bowel movements. Blood will be drawn at week 2 and 4 and, 6 weeks after cessation of treatment, subjects will again record abdominal symptoms and frequency of bowel movements for 2 weeks. Blood will be drawn for hormone levels at 8 weeks after completion of study.
Interventions
PROCEDUREacupuncture
Sponsors
American College of Gastroenterology
Penn State University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 90 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* frequence of bowel movement of at least 3/day * global disease severity of at least 3
Exclusion criteria
* taking medications which will influence frequency of bowel movement * patient taking anticoagulants or suffering from coagulopathy * pregancy
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Frequency of bowel movement | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Abdominal pain | — |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed