Electroacupuncture accelerates solid gastric emptying and improves dyspeptic symptoms in patients with functional dyspepsia

The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at ST36 and PC6 points on solid gastric emptying and dyspeptic symptoms in patients with functional dyspepsia. Nineteen patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) were involved in the study, consisting of two parts: (1) acute effects of EA on solid gastric emptying in FD patients with delayed gastric emptying and (2) short-term (2-week) effects of EA on symptoms in FD patients with normal gastric emptying. Results were as follows. (1) Ten of the 19 patients showed delayed gastric emptying of solids, and acute EA significantly improved delayed gastric emptying; the halftime for gastric emptying was reduced from 150.3 +/- 48.4 to 118.9 +/- 29.6 min (P = 0.007). (2) In the nine patients with normal gastric emptying, 2-week EA significantly decreased the symptom score, from 8.2 +/- 3.3 at baseline to 1.6 +/- 1.1 (P < 0.001) at the end of treatment. We conclude that EA at the ST36 and PC6 points accelerates solid gastric emptying in FD patients with delayed gastric emptying and relieves dyspeptic symptoms in FD patients with normal gastric emptying.