[Progress of Researches on Relationship between Acu-moxibustion Induced Modulation of Small Intestinal Motility and...

A large body of evidence of clinical and experimental outcomes showed that acupuncture and moxibustion can effectively treat disorders of small intestinal motility. The present articJe collected related literatures and made an analysis on the correlation between the effect of acupuncture-moxibustion intervention and needle-manipulation techniques, stimulating quantities, acupoint recipes, and the body functional states, as well as the corresponding mechanisms. Results indicate that acupuncture stimulation of acupoints of the limbs mainly enhance the motility of the small intestine, while acupuncture stimulation of acupoints in the abdominal region predominately suppress it, which may be closely associated with its effects on activities of the autonomic nervous system. This conclusion tells us that in clinical treatment of small intestinal hypodynamia, acupoints of the limbs should be selected first while in treating intestinal hyperdynamia, those acupoints in the abdominal region should be taken preferably. In ad- dition, at present, non-invaded detection techniques of the small intestinal motility are definitely and urgently needed and will greatly promote the progress of researches of acu-moxibustion on the mechanism underlying modulation of small intestinal motility.