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The following is a summary of “Analysis of Electroacupuncture Parameters for Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Data Mining Approach,” published in the April 2025 issue of Journal of Pain Research by Tang et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to identify effective electroacupuncture (EA) parameters for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) using data mining methodologies.
They performed a comprehensive search across 9 databases to retrieve randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on EA for IBS published between 2013 and 2024. The EA parameters from eligible studies were extracted and evaluated for quality using Cochrane’s risk of bias tool (RoB 2). Descriptive statistics were calculated using MS-Excel®. Association rule analysis was conducted in SPSS Modeler, and complex network and co-occurrence network analyses were carried out using Gephi and Origin, respectively.
The results showed that 30 RCTs with 2,906 participants were included. Studies exhibited a low to high risk of bias, mainly due to insufficient randomization and lack of blinding. The most common EA parameters were 2 Hz frequency, dilatational or continuous waves, 30-minute sessions, a 4-week duration, and daily treatments. Among 32 acupoint prescriptions, 27 acupoints were identified, with the stomach and bladder meridians most frequently targeted. ST25, ST37, and ST36 were the most used acupoints. The most supported acupoint combination was (ST25→ST37). k-core hierarchical analysis identified core acupoints for IBS treatment: ST25, ST37, ST36, SP6, LR3, BL25, LI11, and RN4.
Investigators concluded that a specific EA protocol involving dilatational/continuous waves at 2 Hz for 30 minutes over 4 weeks using the ST25→ST37 acupoint combination might be a primary treatment for IBS, but methodological limitations necessitated further validation for clinical use.
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