Systematic review of acupuncture for functional constipation

Objective: To systematically analyze the therapeutic efficacy and safety of acupuncture in treating functional constipation(FC). Methods: By searching the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CBM, CNKI, WanFang databases, the randomized controlled trials(RCTs) comparing acupuncture with Western medication in treating FC were retrieved, from the inception of the databases to September 2013. When the literatures were arranged according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the methodological qualities were evaluated, RevMan 5.2 was adopted for meta-analysis. Results: Ten RCTs were included, covering 1 041 cases of FC. The meta-analysis showed that there was no significant difference in comparing spontaneous bowel movements per week between shallow acupuncture at Tianshu(ST 25) and Western medication MD=-0.47, 95% CI(-1.28, 0.34)]; there was a significant difference in comparing the spontaneous bowel movements per week between deep acupuncture at Tianshu(ST 25) and Western medication MD = 0.53, 95% CI(0.13, 0.92)], but the difference was insignificant according to the sensitivity analysis MD=0.38, 95% CI(-0.03, 0.80)], indicating the low reliability of the conclusion. Regarding the Cleveland clinic score(CCS), the difference between shallow acupuncture at Tianshu(ST 25) and Western medication was insignificant MD = 0.39, 95% CI(- 1.13, 1.91)]; the difference between deep acupuncture at Tianshu(ST 25) and Western medication was significant MD=2.64, 95% CI(1.32, 3.97)]. In the evaluation of security, the incidence rate of adverse events in acupuncture treatment(0.31%) was significantly lower than that in Western medication treatment(3.4%). Conclusion: Although the present systematic review showed that deep acupuncture at Tianshu(ST 25) should have better therapeutic efficacy than Western medication, the reliability and quality of the evidences were poor, and thus the above results require proving by more RCTs of higher quality.