Treating chronic colonitis diarrhea by He-Ne laser irradiation of acupoints: A report of 200 cases

Abstract

Objective To compare the effect of treating chronic colonitis diarrhea (CCD) using He-Ne laser irradiation of acupoints with routine drug treatment. Methods Two hundred patients with CCD were randomly divided into a laser irradiation group (laser group) and a routine drug treatment group (control group) with 100 patients in each group. The laser group patients were treated with a He-Ne laser ( power density 478 mW/cm2 )through coupling fiberoptic cable radiating onto the Shenque (REN8) , bilateral Tianshu (ST25) and Dachangshu (BL25) acupoints, each for 10 min daily for 10 days. Control group patients were treated with routine drugs such as antibiotics, astringents, antidiarrheals, antispasmodic analgesics, vitamins and Chinese herbal enemas. Three months after treatment the patients were examined by fibercoloscope to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy in the two groups. Results In the laser group 66 cases (66%) experienced a short-term cure, 27 cases (27%) improved and7 cases (7%) showed no effect. In the control group 33 cases (33%) were short-term cures, 43 cases (43%) improved and 24 cases (24%) had no effect. These differences were statistically significant. In both groups the effects for patients with short histories was better than for those with longer histories. In the laser group the pathological changes in the distal colon were significantly better than in the proximal colon, but this difference wasn't significant in the control group. The average days of total treatment to achieve short-term cure and improvement in the laser group were significantly less than in the control group. In the laser group the average days to the disappearance of abdominal pain and diarrhea in the short-term cure patients of was significantly fewer than in the control group. Conclusions Laser irradiation was more effective than routine drug treatment, especially for stopping diarrhea, spasmolysis and analgia. Key words: Lasers; Acupoints; Colouitis; Diarrhea