Effects of transcutaneous electrical acu-stimulation in patients with functional dyspepsia: authors’ reply

Sirs, Thanks for the contributions and comments of Beyazit et al.¹ for our study in Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.² Acupuncture may have a role in treating patients with functional dyspepsia because there are several lines of evidence demonstrating beneficial roles of acupuncture by altering acid secretion, gastrointestinal (GI) motility and visceral pain.^3, 4 However, despite a number of positive studies, there is a lack of well-designed and controlled studies to draw any conclusion. Hence, we look for the results of future well-designed studies to determine the efficacy of acupuncture in functional GI disorders.

The most commonly used acupuncture points in treating GI symptoms are the Zusanli point of the lower limb (stomach-36; ST-36) and the Neiguan point at the wrist (pericardium-6; PC-6).⁴ Although bladder meridian (Bl 18-21), stated by Beyazit et al., corresponds to upper abdominal organs including gall bladder, kidneys, spleen and stomach for acupuncture, almost all studies regarding the role of acupuncture for functional dyspepsia have been performed using ST-36 and PC-6 rather than abdomen or paravertebral areas. Acupuncture on the abdomen (CV-12) has been used to treat patients with abdominal pain, suggesting that acupuncture at CV-12 may inhibit GI motility and/or reduce spasm of GI muscles. Further studies comparing the different acupuncture localizations for functional dyspepsia are definitely needed.

Finally, the paravertebral area where we applied the vacuum interferential current in our study might, of course, match acupuncture locations as acupoints are most probably distributed along the nerve dermatomes.