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Acupuncture Lessens Paediatric Abdominal Pain: Presented at ASA

By Jill Stein

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- October 19, 2003 -- Acupuncture is showing promise as a complementary treatment for functional abdominal pain in children and adolescents, researchers reported on October 14^th here at the 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Approximately 25% of school-age children reportedly develop recurrent abdominal pain, and the problem is particularly prevalent among young girls.

The use of acupuncture was tested on 23 patients less than 18 years of age who had been referred by a paediatric gastroenterologist or paediatric pain specialist. The study was led by Yuan-Chi Lin, MD, MPH, Medical Acupuncture Service, Department of Anesthesia, Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Acupuncture based on traditional Chinese medicine was performed in all cases by the same acupuncturist. The acupuncture points used for the treatment of functional abdominal pain in this study were ST-36, PC-6, SP-6, and LR-3. An associate other than the acupuncturist obtained the pain-intensity scores using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain from 0 to 10 at the start of each treatment session.

Following a comprehensive baseline assessment, patients underwent six weekly sessions, after which they could continue treatment every other week. Overall, 18 patients completed six weekly acupuncture sessions (mean age 13.7 years)

Results showed a downward trend in the VAS pain scores. In fact, VAS pain scores decreased from a value of 7.1 at baseline, to 5.7 at 3 weeks, and 3.8 at 6 weeks. The reduction in weekly pain scores was highly significant throughout the trial (P<0.001), and was not affected by age or gender.

Additional treatment benefits included fewer days missed from school and increased energy and activity levels.

There were no adverse side effects related to treatment.

Dr. Lin emphasised that, while the results suggest a potential role for acupuncture in the management of paediatric functional abdominal pain, additional controlled studies are needed to corroborate the findings.

In general, children with functional abdominal pain are between the ages of 4 and 16, and experience episodic pain interspersed with pain-free periods, although otherwise they are thriving and medically well. Patients frequently describe diffuse peri-umbilical pain that is poorly localised and rarely radiates to the back or chest. Pain is often worse at night, but rarely wakens the child from sleep. Many children will experience other chronic symptoms, such as headache, nausea, and dizziness. In most cases, an underlying cause is rarely diagnosed. Some studies have suggested that functional pain may be a precursor to irritable bowel syndrome in adults.


[Study title: Acupuncture in the Management of Functional Abdominal Pain in Children. Abstract A-1406]

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