Clinical Observation on Changes of Pressing Pain Along Governor Vessel on the Back by Acupuncture in Patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

OBJECTIVE To observe changes of pressing pain along governor vessel on the back(below the spinous process from the 3rd cervical vertebra to the 9th cervical vertebra) in patients with gastro-esophageal reflux disease(GRED) after acupuncture treatment as well as its clinical meaning. METHODS 60 cases of GRED were randomly divided into acupuncture group and medication group， with 30 cases in each group. In the acupuncture group， such acupoints as Shenzhu(GV12)， Shendao(GV11)， Lingtai(GV10)， Zhiyang(GV9)， Jinsuo(GV8) and non-acupoints(T4， T8) were needled once every other day， three times a week. While those in the medication group were given Omeprazole(20mg/time) twice a day， with the treatment course lasting for eight weeks. Reflux disease questionnaires (RDQ) were answered in both groups before and after the treatment， then pain degree and pain threshold and pressing pain along governor vessel from T₃~T₉ were assessed. RESULTS The effect rate was 70% in acupuncture group and 43.3% in medication group with significant differences between the two groups (P<0.05). After treatment， the relief of pressing pain below the spinous processes from T3 to T9 in acupuncture group was better than that in medication group(P<0.05)， and the increasing of pain threshold from T5 to T7 in acupuncture group was much higher than that in medication group(P<0.05). CONCLUSION Acupuncture stimulation along governor vessel on the back is more effective than medication， and the pain threshold after acupuncture was significantly higher than medication. Therefore， the changes of pressing pain along governor vessel can be considered as an index to estimate the effect of treating GRED by acupuncture.