Acupuncture beneficial for postprandial distress syndrome

Acupuncture results in an increased response rate and elimination rate for all the cardinal symptoms in patients with postprandial distress syndrome (PDS), according to a study published online May 12 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Jing-Wen Yang, M.D., Ph.D., from the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, and colleagues examined the efficacy of acupuncture versus sham acupuncture in 278 Chinese patients aged 18 to 65 years with PDS. Patients were randomly assigned to 12 sessions of acupuncture or sham acupuncture for four weeks; 228 patients completed outcome measures at week 16. Two primary outcomes were assessed: the response rate based on overall treatment effect and the elimination rate of the three cardinal symptoms, postprandial fullness, upper abdominal bloating, and early satiation.

The researchers found that at week 4, the estimated response rates from generalized linear mixed models were 83.0 and 51.6 percent in the acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups, respectively (difference, 31.4 percentage points; 95 percent confidence interval, 20.3 to 42.5 percentage points; P < 0.001). The estimated elimination rate of all three cardinal symptoms was 27.8 versus 17.3 percent in the acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups, respectively (difference, 10.5 percentage points; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.08 to 20.9 percentage points P = 0.034). During the 12-week posttreatment follow-up, the efficacy of acupuncture was maintained. No serious adverse events were reported.

"Future research on the long-term effect of acupuncture that incorporates objective outcomes and daily measurement of symptoms is warranted," the authors write.

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