[Short-term curative effect and safety on female abdominal obesity and defecation function treated with acupoint...

To investigate the short-term effect and safety on female abdominal obesity and defecation function in treatment with acupoint embedding therapy at different abdominal layers under B ultrasound.

A total of 102 female patients with abdominal obesity were randomly divided into 3 groups, i.e. a deep embedding group (34 cases, 1 case dropped out), a shallow embedding group (34 cases, 3 cases dropped out) and a sham-embedding group (34 cases, 6 cases dropped out). Finally, 92 cases were included in the three groups. Under B ultrasound, in the deep embedding group, the absor-bable surgical suture were embedded in subcutaneous fat layer and muscle layer. In the shallow embedding group, the absorbable surgical suture was embedded in the fat layer and in the sham-embedding group, no suture was embedded. The acupoints for embedding therapy included Zhongwan (CV12), Guanyuan (CV4), bilateral Guanmen (ST22), bilateral Tianshu (ST25), bilateral Daimai (GB26) and bilateral Shuidao (ST28). The acupoint embedding therapy was exerted once every two weeks, for 4 times totally. Before and after treatment, the changes in abdominal obesity indicators (waist circumference ［WC］, body fat rate ［BFR］, body mass index ［BMI］, abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness ［ASFT］) and defecation function indicators (spontaneous bowel movement times ［SBMs］ and Bristol stool scale ［BSS］) were observed and the safety indicators were assessed.

After treatment, WC, BFR, BMI and ASFT were lower than those before treatment in both the deep embedding group and the shallow embedding group (P<0.05), those values in the deep embedding group were reduced more obviously as compared with the shallow embedding group (P<0.05). SBMs and BSS after treatment were increased as compared with those before treatment in both the deep embedding group and the shallow embedding group (P<0.05) and the increase in the deep embedding group was more obvious than in the shallow embedding group (P<0.05). The abdominal obesity indicators and defecation function indicators after treatment were not different statistically as compared with those before treatment in the sham-embedding group (P>0.05). The pain score of acupuncture in either the deep embedding group or the shallow embedding group was higher than in the sham-embedding group (P<0.05). The acceptance was more than 2 points in all of the three groups and there was no statistical significance among groups (P>0.05).

Acupoint embedding therapy in both the deep and the shallow subcutaneous layers under B ultrasound may regulate the indicators of female abdominal obesity safely. The acupoint embedding therapy in the deep layer is more effective on abdominal obesity and defecation improvement as compared with that exerted in the shallow layer.