Resolution of intractable hiccups after near-infrared irradiation of relevant acupoints
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Cheng-Chiang Chang1, Shin-Tsu Chang2, Tsung-Ying Li1
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Background:
Intractable hiccups are occasionally encountered in the presence of stroke but are usually difficult to manage.
Methods:
We describe two stroke patients with intractable hiccups that were refractory to pharmacological treatment but were well resolved by application to relevant acupoints with the modality linear polarized near-infrared ray equipment on PC 6 (Nei Guan), ST 36 (Zu San Li), and DU 9 (Chih Yang), which are the empirical acupoints aimed at regulating gastrointestinal mobility and function of the thoracic organ.
Results:
The first patient who received the treatment for only one time came out with a dramatic termination of intractable hiccups 3 hours later and with no recurrence thereafter. We applied the same treatment on the second patient once a day for 8 consecutive days, which led to progressive amelioration of intractable hiccups.
Conclusions:
This is the first report about the complete resolution of intractable hiccups due to stroke using near-infrared irradiation to acupoints, rather than using conventional pharmacologic therapy, traditional acupuncture, or moxibustion. Consequently, these findings suggest that linear polarized near-infrared ray irradiation, with its noninvasive properties, might be an alternative treatment for intractable hiccups after stroke.