Acupuncture Treatment for Gastroparesis: a Pilot Study

Gastroparesis is a disorder characterized by delayed gastric emptying leading to symptoms of nausea, vomiting, bloating, and abdominal pain. A common cause is diabetes but often it occurs in otherwise healthy individuals in whom the disorder is said to be idiopathic. The symptoms of gastroparesis can significantly alter a patient's quality of life and may result in absenteeism or frequent ER visits and hospitalizations for dehydration caused by intractable nausea and vomiting.

Current treatment for gastroparesis includes dietary and lifestyle modifications, tight glycemic control in diabetics, and supportive care for symptoms, like anti-emetics for nausea. Prokinetic therapies to enhance gastric emptying such as metoclopramide, domperidone, and erythromycin have varying degrees of effect. Unfortunately they are often limited by side effects. Metoclopramide, the only pharmacologic agent that is FDA approved for the treatment of gastroparesis, in particular crosses the blood brain barrier and may cause CNS side effects, reported to be 10-25% of the time. The most rare but most worrisome adverse reaction is tardive dyskinesia associated with prolonged use of metoclopramide, prompting the FDA to label it with a blackbox warning. Use of erythromycin is limited to acute flares, as prolonged use causes tachyphylaxis. Finally, domperidone may have equal efficacy as metoclopramide and is available in 58 countries. However, it is not FDA approved in the US but can be obtained with an Investigational New Drug Application. Given these constraints, novel therapies to improve symptoms are needed.

Preliminary studies from Asia and the US have shown a potential role for acupuncture in improving gastroparetic symptoms and gastric motility in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. It is our plan to expand on the available research by using validated instruments to measure changes in severity of symptoms and quality of life, incorporating randomization and blinding, and correcting for possible placebo effect.

Our hypothesis is that twice weekly acupuncture treatments can improve symptoms of gastroparesis with an effect that lasts beyond the last treatment date without inducing side-effects. We also hypothesize that gastric emptying may improve compared to baseline values. This is a pilot study of 20 gastroparetic patients who will be randomized to standard medical therapy + acupuncture designed to treat gastroparesis vs. standard medical therapy + acupuncture designed to treat unrelated musculoskeletal and arthralgia complaints.