J Tradit Chin Med. 1998 Mar; 18(1): 39-42.

Effects of different manipulations of acupuncture on electrical activity of stomach in humans.

Xing W, Li Q.

Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Affiliated Hospital of Datong Medical School, Shanxi Province.

The author observed effects of 4 different acupuncture manipulations (lifting-thrusting, twisting-twirling, uniform reinforcing-reducing, and needling with sensation propagating along channels) on electrical activity of the stomach, using amplitude and frequency of human electrogastrogram (EGG) as the indexes. The experiment proved that both the twisting-twirling and the uniform reinforcing-reducing methods inhibited electrical activity of the stomach to reduce the frequency of EGG (P < 0.05), and at the same time the uniform reinforcing-reducing method decreased the amplitude (P < 0.001); while both the lifting-thrusting method and the manipulation for needling sensation propagating along channels excited electrical activity of the stomach to raise the amplitude of EGG (P < 0.01), and the lifting-thrusting method increased the frequency (P < 0.001). Accordingly, the lifting-thrusting method or the manipulation for needling sensation propagating along channels is suitable for chronic superficial gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis, carcinoma of stomach with lower frequency and amplitude of EGG; whereas the uniform reinforcing-reducing or twisting-twirling method is good for patients with gastric and duodenal ulcer and hyperhydrochloria with higher frequence and amplitude of EGG.