Acupuncture Enhances Gastrointestinal Motility and Improves Autonomic Nervous Function in Patients with Septic Gastrointestinal Dysfunction

Abstract

Gastrointestinal dysfunction (GD) is a common complication after endotoxemia, which can further aggravate the progress of infection. Acupuncture uses metal needles of different shapes and techniques to stimulate specific points on the human body, which are effective in treating various diseases, including gastrointestinal diseases. We aimed at exploring the clinical effect of acupuncture on the recovery of visceral sensation, proximal gastric compliance, and autonomic nervous function in patients with septic GD. A total of 73 sepsis with GD patients were selected using modified single section ultrasonography combined with clinical symptoms in the First People’s Hospital of Lanzhou City during 2019. The participants were randomly allocated to routine-treatment (control group) and study group receiving acupuncture. The indexes before and after treatment included gastric residue, gastric dilatation, pressure and volume, gastric compliance, autonomic nerve function, APACHE II score, and infection index were measured and compared. Before treatment, there was no significant difference in the basic information of the two groups, including gastric volume and pressure, gastric residue, gastric compliance, autonomic nerve function, and APACHE II score. After treatment, the maximum gastric volume and pressure, gastric residue, and APACHE II score of the two groups were significantly improved ( $P<0.05$ ). In addition, the maximum gastric volume and pressure of the study group were significantly higher, while gastric residual, autonomic nerve function, and APACHE II were significantly lower than those of the control group ( $P<0.05$ ). However, our results showed that acupuncture did not further reduce inflammatory markers, including white blood cells, C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin. To sum up, on the basis of basic treatment, the application of acupuncture can further improve the clinical symptoms of GD in patients with sepsis, enhance gastrointestinal motility, and improve autonomic nervous function, which is worthy of clinical application and promotion.